vlYSTIC 


THE 


GIFT   OF 


H 


0f  a 


BY 
MAX  HEINDEL 


A  SERIES  OF  ESSAYS  ON 
PRACTICAL  MYSTICISM 


FIRST  EDITION 


THE   ROSICRUCIAN  FELLOWSHIP 

International    Headquarters 

Mt.    Ecclesia 
Oceanside,  California 


L/ondon: 

L.  N,  Fowler  &  Co.,  7  Imperial  Arcade 
Ludgate  Circus 


• 

.  •    • 

.     •      ••",>•    ?  •  i 

.  .    '      ... 


COPYRIGHT,  1922. 

BY 
MRS.  MAX  HEINDEL. 

G/ft 


FELLOWSHIP  PRESS 
OCEANSIDE,  CALIF. 


The  contents  of  this  book  are  among  the  last 
writings  of  Max  Heindel,  the  mystic.  They  contain 
some  of  his  deepest  thoughts,  and  are  the  result  of 
years  of  research  and  occult  investigation.  He,  too, 
could  say  as  did  Parsifal :  *  *  Through  error  and  through 
suffering  I  came,  through  many  failures  and  through 
countless  woes. ' '  At  last  he  was  given  the  living  water 
with  which  he  was  able  to  quench  the  spiritual  thirst 
of  many  souls.  He  also  developed  to  their  depths 
pity  and  love,  and  could  feel  the  heart  throbs  of  suf- 
fering humanity. 

Strong  souls  are  usually  endowed  with  great  energy 
and  impulse,  and  through  these  very  forces,  they 
forge  to  the  front  ranks  though  they  often  suffer 
much.  As  a  result  they  are  filled  with  compassion  for 
others.  The  writer  of  these  lessons  sacrificed  his  phys- 
ical body  on  the  altar  of  service. 

In  writing  the  books  and  monthly  lessons  of  the 
Fellowship,  in  his  lectures  and  class  work,  and  in  the 
arduous  pioneer  work  of  establishing  Headquarters 
within  the  short  span  of  ten  years.  Max  Heindel  ac- 
complished more  than  many  who  are  blessed  with  per- 
fect health  could  have  accomplished  in  a  lifetime.  His 


first  book,  his  masterpiece,  "The  Rosierucian  Cosmo- 
Conception,77  was  written  under  the  direct  guidance 
of  the  Elder  Brothers  of  the  Rose  Cross.  It  carries  a 
vital  message  to  the  world.  It  satisfies  not  alone  the 
intellect,  but  also  the  heart.  His  "Freemasonry 
and  Catholicism/7  has  found  its  way  into  many  Ma- 
sonic libraries.  The  occultist  has  received  much  from 
the  book  entitled,  "The  Web  of  Destiny,"  which  is  a 
mine  of  mystical  knowledge  and  helpful  occult  truths. 
It  is  also  a  guide  to  the  investigator,  establishing 
danger  signals  for  the  venturesome  ones  who  wish  to 
take  heaven  by  storm.  To  the  science  of  astrology  he 
has  given  more  in  a  few  years  than  has  previously 
been  discovered  in  centuries.  His  two  valuable  works, 
" Simplified  Scientific  Astrology"  and  "The  Message 
of  the  Stars, 7  *  deal  largely  with  the  spiritual  and  medi- 
cal aspects  of  astrology.  The  latter  gives  methods 
of  diagnosis  and  healing  which  form  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  works  of  other  authors,  both  ancient 
and  modern.  These  books  may  be  found  in  the  libra- 
ries of  many  doctors  of  the  old  school. 

In  "Gleanings  of  a  Mystic7'  are  found  twenty-four 
lessons  which  were  formerly  sent  out  to  students.  It 
is  the  wish  of  the  writer  of  this  introduction  that  these 
lessons  may  carry  a  message  of  love  and  cheer  to  the 
soul-hungry  reader  and  hope  to  the  disconsolate  one. 

— Augusta  Foss  HeindeL 


Table  of  Contents 

Chapter  L 

Initiation :  What  It  Is  and  Is  Not— Part  L  7 

Chapter  II. 

Initiation :  What  It  Is  and  Is  Not— Part  IL  11 
Chapter  III. 

The  Sacrament  of  Communion — Part  L  21 

Chapter  IV. 

The  Sacrament  of  Communion — Part  IL  28 

Chapter  V. 

The  Sacrament  of  Baptism.  37 

Chapter  VI. 

The  Sacrament  of  Marriage.  46 

Chapter  VII. 

The  Unpardonable  Sin  and  Lost  Souls.  54 

Chapter  VIII. 

The  Immaculate  Conception.  61 

Chapter  IX. 

The  Coming  Christ,  69 

Chapter  X. 

The  Coming  Age.  77 

Chapter  XI. 

Meat  and  Drink  as  Factors  in  Evolution.          85 


Chapter  XII. 

A  Living  Sacrifice.  94 

Chapter  XIII. 

Magic,  White  and  Black.  101 

Chapter  XIV. 

Our  Invisible  Government.  108 

Chapter  XV. 

Practical  Precepts  for  Practical  People.  114 

Chapter  XVI. 

Sound,  Silence,  and  Soul  Growth.  121 

Chapter  XVII. 

The  * ' Mysterium  Magnum"  of  the  Rose  Cross  130 
Chapter  XVIII. 

Stumbling  Blocks.  138 

Chapter  XIX. 

The  Lock  of  Upliftment.  147 

Chapter  XX. 

The  Cosmic  Meaning  of  Easter— Part  I.  153 

Chapter  XXI. 

The  Cosmic  Meaning  of  Easter— Part  II.  160 
Chapter  XXII. 

The  Newborn  Christ.  167 

Chapter  XXIII. 

Why  I  am  a  Rosicrucian.  173 

Chapter  XXIV. 

The  Object  of  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship.      180 


•*       •" 

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Chapter  I 

INITIATION  :  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT 
PART  I 

IT  IS  NO  rare  occurrence  to  receive  questions  relat- 
ing to  Initiation,  and  we  are  also  frequently  asked 
to  state  whether  this  order  or  that  society  is  genuine, 
and  whether  the  initiations  they  offer  to  all  comers 
who  have  the  price  are  bona  fide.  For  that  reason  it 
seems  necessary  to  write  a  treatise  on  the  subject  so 
that  students  of  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship  may  have 
an  official  statement  for  reference  and  guidance  in 
the  future. 

In  the  first  place  let  it  be  clearly  understood  that 
we  consider  it  reprehensible  to  express  condemnation 
of  any  society  or  order,  no  matter  what  its  practices. 
It  may  be  perfectly  sincere  and  honest  according  to 
its  light.  We  do  not  believe  that  we  rise  in  the  opin- 
ion of  discriminating  men  and  women  by  speaking  in 
disparaging  terms  of  others;  neither  are  we  laboring 
under  the  delusion  that  we  have  all  the  truth  and  other 
societies  are  plunged  in  Egyptian  darkness.  We 
reiterate  what  we  have  often  said  before,  that  all  re- 


8  o-*-'^  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

ligions  have  been  given  to  mankind  by  the  Recording 
Angels,  who  know  the  spiritual  requirements  of  each 
class,  nation,  and  race,  and  have  the  intelligence  to 
give  to  each  a.  form  of  worship  perfectly  suited  to  its 
particular  need;  that  thus  Hinduism  is  suited  to  the 
Hindu,  Mohammedanism  to  the  Arab,  and  the  Chris- 
tian religion  to  those  born  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
The  Mystery  Schools  of  each  religion  furnish  to  the 
more  advanced  members  of  the  race  or  nation  em- 
bracing it  a  higher  teaching,  which,  if  lived,  advances 
them  into  a  higher  sphere  of  spirituality  than  their 
brethren.  But  as  the  religion  of  the  backward  races 
is  of  a  lower  order  than  the  religion  of  the  pioneers, 
the  Christian  nations,  so  also  the  Mystery  Teaching  of 
the  East  is  more  elementary  than  that  of  the  West, 
and  the  Hindu  or  Chinese  Initiate  is  on  a  correspond- 
ingly lower  rung  of  the  ladder  of  attainment  than  the 
"Western  Mystic.  Please  ponder  this  well  so  that  you 
may  not  fall  a  victim  to  misguided  people  who  try  to 
persuade  others  that  the  Christian  religion  is  crude 
compared  with  oriental  cults.  Ever  westward  in  the 
wake  of  the  shining  sun,  the  light  of  the  world,  has 
gone  the  star  of  empire,  and  is  it  not  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  spiritual  light  has  kept  pace  with 
civilization,  or  even  preceded  it  as  thought  precedes 
action  ?  We  hold  that  such  is  the  case,  that  the  Chris- 
tion  religion  is  the  loftiest  yet  given  to  man,  and  that 
to  repudiate  the  Christian  religion,  esoteric  or  exoteric, 
for  any  of  the  older  systems  is  analogous  to  preferring 


INITIATION:  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT  9 

the  older  textbooks  of  science  to  the  newer  ones  which 
embrace  discoveries  to  date. 

Neither  are  the  practices  of  Eastern  aspirants  to  the 
higher  life  to  be  imitated  by  Westerners;  we  refer 
particularly  to  the  breathing  exercises.  They  are  both 
beneficial  and  necessary  to  the  unfoldment  of  the 
Hindu,  but  it  is  otherwise  with  the  Western  aspirant. 
To  him  it  is  dangerous  to  practice  breathing  exercises 
for  soul  unfoldment;  they  will  even  prove  subversive 
of  soul  growth,  and  they  are,  moreover,  absolutely  un- 
necessary. The  reason  is  this: 

During  involution  the  threefold  spirit  has  become 
gradually  incrusted  in  a  threefold  body.  In  the  At- 
lantean  Epoch  man  was  at  the  nadir  of  materiality. 
We  are  just  now  rounding  the  lowest  point  on  the  arc 
of  involution,  and  starting  upward  on  the  ar'3 
of  evolution.  At  this  point,  then,  all  mankind  is 
immured  in  this  earthly  prison  house  to  such  a  degree 
that  spiritual  vibrations  are  almost  killed.  This  is,  of 
course,  particularly  true  of  the  backward  races  and 
the  lower  classes  in  the  Western  world.  The  atoms  in 
such  backward  race  bodies  are  vibrating  at  an  exceed- 
ingly low  rate,  and  when  in  the  course  of  time  one  of 
these  people  develops  to  a  point  where  it  is  possible  to 
further  him  upon  the  path  of  attainment,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  raise  this  vibratory  pitch  of  the  atom  so  that 
the  vital  body,  which  is  the  medium  of  occult  growth, 
may  to  a  certain  extent  be  liberated  from  the  dead- 
ening force  of  the  physical  atom.  This  result  is  at- 


10  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

tained  by  means  of  breathing  exercises,  which  in  time 
accelerate  the  vibration  of  the  atom,  and  allow  the 
spiritual  growth  necessary  to  the  individual  to  take 
place. 

These  exercises  may  also  be  used  by  a  great  number 
of  people  in  the  Western  world,  particularly  those  who 
are  not  at  all  concerned  about  their  spiritual  advance- 
ment. But  even  among  those  who  desire  soul  growth 
there  are  many  who  are  not  yet  at  the  point  where 
the  atoms  of  their  bodies  have  evolved  to  such  a  pitch 
of  vibration  that  acceleration  beyond  the  usual  meas- 
ure would  injure  them.  Here  the  breathing  exercises 
would  do  no  harm;  but  if  given  to  a  person  who  is 
really  at  the  point  where  he  can  enter  the  path  of 
advancement  ordinarily  mapped  out  for  the  Hindu's 
precocious  brothers  and  sisters  in  the  West,  in  other 
words,  when  he  is  nearly  ready  for  Initiation  and 
when  he  would  be  benefited  by  spiritual  exercises, 
then  the  case  is  far  otherwise. 

During  the  aeons  which  we  have  spent  in  evolution 
since  the  time  when  we  were  in  Hindu  bodies,  our 
atoms  have  accelerated  their  vibratory  pitch  enor- 
mously, and  as  said  in  the  case  of  one  who  is  reall}* 
nearly  ready  for  Initiation,  the  pitch  of  vibration  is 
higher  than  that  of  the  average  man  or  woman.  There- 
fore he  does  not  need  breathing  exercises  to  accelerate 
this  pitch,  but  certain  spiritual  exercises  suited  to  him 
individually  which  will  advance  him  on  the  proper 
path.  If  such  a  person  at  this  critical  period  meets 


INITIATION:  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT          11 

some  one  who  ignorantly  or  unscrupulously  gives  him 
breathing  exercises,  and  if  he  follows  the  instructions 
accurately  in  the  hope  of  getting  quick  results,  he  will 
get  them  quickly  but  in  a  manner  he  has  not  looked 
for,  since  the  vibratory  rate  of  the  atoms  in  his  body 
will  in  a  very  short  time  become  accelerated  to  such  a 
pitch  that  it  will  seem  to  him  as  if  he  were  walking 
on  air;  then  also  an  improper  cleavage  of  the  vital 
body  may  take  place,  and  either  consumption  or  in- 
sanity follows.  Now  please  put  this  down  where  it 
will  burn  itself  into  your  consciousness  in  letters  of 
fire:  Initiation  is  a  spiritual  process,  and  spiritual 
progress  cannot  be  accomplished  by  physical  means, 
but  only  by  spiritual  exercises. 

There  are  many  orders  in  the  West  which  profess 
to  initiate  anyone  who  has  the  price.  Some  of  these 
orders  have  names  closely  resembling  our  own,  and 
v/e  are  constantly  asked  by  students  whether  they  are 
affiliated  with  us.  In  order  to  settle  this  once  and  for 
all,  please  note  that  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship  has 
constantly  taught  that  no  spiritual  gift  may  ever  be 
traded  for  money.  If  you  bear  this  in  mind,  you  may 
know  we  have  no  connection  with  any  order  which  de- 
mands money  for  the  transference  of  spiritual  power. 
He  who  has  something  to  give  of  a  truly  spiritual  nat- 
ure will  not  barter  it  for  money.  I  received  a  par- 
ticular injunction  to  this  effect  from  the  Elder  Broth- 
ers in  the  Rosicrucian  Temple,  when  they  told  me  to 
go  to  the  English  speaking  world  as  their  messenger, 


12  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

a  claim  I  do  not  expect  you  to  believe  save  as  you  see 
it  justified  ~by  fruits. 

Now,  however,  about  Initiation:  What  is  it?  Is  it 
ceremony  as  claimed  by  these  other  orders  ?  If  so,  any 
order  can  certainly  invent  ceremonies  of  a  more  or  less 
elaborate  kind.  They  may  by  flowing  robes  and 
clashing  swords  appeal  to  the  emotions;  they  may 
appeal  to  the  sense  of  wonder  and  awe  by  rattling 
chains  and  by  deep  sounding  gongs,  and  thus  pro- 
duce in  their  members  an  "occult  feeling."  Many  revel 
in  the  adventures  and  experiences  of  the  hero  in 
"The  Brother  of  the  Third  Degree,"  thinking  that 
this  is  surely  Initiation,  but  I  tell  you  that  it  is  very 
far  from  being  the  case.  No  ceremony  can  ever  yivc  to 
any  one  that  inward  experience  which  constitutes 
Initiation,  no  matter  how  much  is  charged  or  how 
fearful  the  oaths,  how  awful  or  beautiful  the  cere- 
mony, or  how  gorgeous  the  robes,  any  more  than  pass- 
ing through  a  ceremony  can  convert  a  sinner  juid 
make  him  a  saint,  for  conversion  is  to  the  exoteric  re- 
ligionist exactly  what  Initiation  is  in  the  higher  mys- 
ticism. Please  consider  this  point  thoroughly,  and 
you  will  have  the  key  to  the  problem. 

Do  you  think  that  any  one  could  go  to  a  person  of 
depraved  character  and  agree  to  convert  him  for  a 
certain  sum  and  carry  out  his  part  of  the  agreement  ? 
Surely  you  know  that  no  amount  of  money  could 
bring  about  that  change  in  a  man's  character.  Ask  a 
true  convert  where  he  got  his  religion  and  how  he  got 


INITIATION:  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT          13 

it.  One  may  tell  you  that  he  received  it  upon  the 
road  as  he  was  walking  along;  another  says  that  the 
light  and  the  change  came  to  him  in  the  solitude  of  his 
room;  another  that  the  light  struck  him  as  it  struck 
Paul  upon  the  road  to  Damascus,  and  forced  him  to 
change.  Every  one  has  a  different  experience,  but  it 
is  in  every  case  an  inward  experience,  and  the  outward 
manifestation  of  that  inward  experience  is  that  it 
changes  the  man's  ivhole  life  from  the  very  least  to 
the  very  greatest  aspects. 

So  it  is  also  with  Initiation;  it  is  an  inward  expe- 
rience, entirely  separate  and  apart  from  any  cere- 
monial whatever,  and  therefore  it  is  an  absolute  im- 
possibility that  any  one  could  sell  it  to  any  one  else. 
Initiation  changes  a  man's  whole  life.  It  gives 
him  a  confidence  that  he  never  possessed  before.  It 
clothes  him  with  a  mantle  of  authority  that  never  can 
be  taken  from  him.  No  matter  what  the  circumstances 
in  life,  it  sheds  a  light  upon  his  whole  being  that  is 
simply  wonderful.  Nor  can  any  ceremony  effect  such 
a  change.  We  therefore  hold  that  anyone  who  offers 
initiation  into  an  occult  order  by  ceremonials  to  every 
one  who  has  the  price,  brands  himself  as  an  imposter. 
For  the  true  teacher,  if  he  were  approached  by  an 
aspirant  with  an  offer  of  money  for  spiritual  attain- 
ment would  answer  indignantly  in  the  words  used  by 
Peter  to  Simon,  the  sorcerer,  who  offered  him  money 
for  spiritual  powers:  "Thy  silver  perish  with  thee." 


14 


Chapter  II 

INITIATION:  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT 
PART  II 

TO  OBTAIN  a  better  understanding  of  what  con- 
stitutes Initiation  and  what  the  prerequisites  are, 
let  the  student  first  fix  firmly  in  his  mind  the  fact 
that  humanity  as  a  whole  is  slowly  progressing  upon 
the  path  of  evolution,  and  thus  very  slowly,  almost 
imperceptibly,  attaining  higher  and  higher  states  of 
consciousness.  The  path  of  evolution  is  a  spiral  when 
we  regard  it  from  the  physical  side  only,  but  a  lemnis- 
cate  when  viewed  in  both  its  physical  and  spiritual 
phases.  (See  the  diagram  of  chemical  caduceus  in  The 
Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Conception,  page  410.)  In  the  lem- 
niscate,  or  figure  8,  there  are  two  circles  which  con- 
verge to  a  central  point,  which  circles  may  be  taken 
to  symbolize  the  immortal  spirit,  the  evolving  ego. 
One  of  the  circles  signifies  its  life  in  the  physical 
world  from  birth  to  death.  During  this  span  of  time 
it  sows  a  seed  by  every  act  and  should  reap  in  return 
a  certain  amount  of  experience.  But  as  we  may  sow 
seed  in  the  field  and  lose  return  on  that  which  falls  on 
stony  ground,  among  thorns,  et  cetera,  so  also  may  the 
seed  of  opportunity  be  wasted  because  of  neglect  to 


INITIATION:  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT          15 

till  the  soil  and  the  life  will  then  be  barren  of  fruit. 
Conversely,  as  diligence  and  care  in  cultivation  in- 
crease the  productive  power  of  garden  seed  enor- 
mously, so  earnest  application  to  the  business  of  life — 
improvement  of  opportunities  to  learn  life's  lessons 
and  extract  from  our  environment  the  experience  it 
holds — brings  added  opportunities ;  and  at  the  end  of 
the  life-day  the  ego  finds  itself  at  the  door  of  death 
laden  with  the  richest  fruits  of  life. 

The  objective  work  of  physical  existence  over,  the 
race  run,  and  the  day  of  action  spent,  the  ego  enters 
upon  the  subjective  work  of  assimilation  accomplished 
during  its  sojourn  in  the  invisible  worlds,  which  it 
traverses  during  the  period  from  death  to  birth,  sym- 
bolized by  the  other  ring  of  the  lemniscate.  As  the 
method  of  accomplishing  this  assimilation  has  been 
most  minutely  described  in  various  parts  of  our  litera- 
ture, it  is  needless  to  repeat  it  here.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  at  the  time  when  an  ego  arrives  at  the  central 
point  in  the  lemniscate,  which  divides  the  physical 
from  the  psychic  worlds  and  which  we  call  the  gate  of 
birth  or  death  according  to  whether  the  ego  is  enter- 
ing or  leaving  the  realm  where  we,  ourselves,  happen 
to  be  at  the  time,  it  has  with  it  an  aggregate  of  facul- 
ties or  talents  acquired  in  all  its  previous  lives,  which 
it  may  then  put  to  usury  or  bury  during  the  coming 
life-day  as  it  sees  fit;  but  upon  the  use  it  makes  of 
what  it  has,  depends  the  amount  of  soul  growth  it 
makes. 


16  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

If  for  many  lives  it  caters  mainly  to  the  lower  nat- 
ure, which  lives  to  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  or  if  it 
dreams  its  life  away  in  metaphysical  speculations 
upon  nature  and  God,  sedulously  abstaining  from  all 
unnecessary  action,  it  is  gradually  passed  and  left  be- 
hind by  the  more  active  and  progressive.  Great  com- 
panies of  these  idlers  form  what  we  know  as  "back- 
ward races";  while  the  active,  alert,  and  wide-awake 
who  improve  a  larger  percentage  of  their  opportuni- 
ties, are  the  pioneers.  Contrary  to  the  commonly  ac- 
cepted idea,  this  applies  also  to  those  engaged  in  in- 
dustrial work.  Their  money-getting  is  only  an  inci- 
dent, an  incentive,  and  entirely  apart  from  this  phase 
their  work  is  as  spiritual  as  or  even  more  so  than  that 
of  those  who  spend  their  time  in  prayer  to  the  preju- 
dice of  useful  work. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  clear  that  the 
method  of  soul  growth  as  accomplished  by  the  process 
of  evolution  requires  action  in  the  physical  life,  fol- 
lowed in  the  post-mortem  state  by  a  ruminating  pro- 
cess, during  which  the  lessons  of  life  are  extracted  and 
thoroughly  incorporated  into  the  consciousness  of  the 
ego,  though  the  experiences  themselves  are  forgotten — 
as  we  forget  our  labor  in  learning  the  multiplication 
table,  though  the  faculty  of  using  it  remains. 

This  exceedingly  slow  and  tedious  process  is  per- 
fectly suited  to  the  needs  of  the  masses ;  but  there  are 
some  who  habitually  exhaust  the  experiences  com- 
monly given,  thus  requiring  and  meriting  a  larger 


INITIATION:  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT          17 

scope  for  their  energies.  Difference  of  temperament 
is  responsible  for  their  division  into  two  classes. 

One  class,  led  by  their  devotion  to  Christ,  simply 
follow  the  dictates  of  the  heart  in  their  work  of  love 
for  their  fellows — beautiful  characters,  beacon  lights 
of  love  in  a  suffering  world,  never  actuated  by  selfish 
motives,  always  ready  to  forego  personal  comfort  to 
aid  others.  Such  were  the  saints;  the}7  worked  as 
they  prayed;  they  never  shirked  in  either  direction. 
Nor  are  they  dead  today.  The  earth  would  be  a 
barren  wilderness  in  spite  of  all  its  civilization  did 
not  their  beautiful  feet  circle  it  on  errands  of  mercy, 
were  not  the  lives  of  sufferers  made  brighter  by  the 
light  of  hope  which  radiates  from  their  beautiful 
faces.  Had  they  but  the  knowledge  possessed  by  the 
other  class  they  would  indeed  outdistance  all  in  the 
race  for  the  Kingdom. 

Mind  is  the  predominating  feature  of  the  other 
class.  In  order  to  aid  it  in  its  efforts  toward  attain- 
ment, mystery  schools  were  early  established  wherein 
the  world  drama  was  played  to  give  the  aspiring  soul 
while  he  was  entranced,  answers  to  the  questions  of 
the  origin  and  destiny  of  humanity.  When  awakened, 
he  was  instructed  in  the  sacred  science  of  how  to  climb 
higher  by  following  the  method  of  nature — which  is 
God  in  manifestation — by  sowing  the  seed  of  action, 
meditating  upon  the  experience,  and  incorporating 
the  essential  moral  to  make  thereby  commensurate 
soul  growth;  also  with  this  important  feature,  that 

2 


18  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

whereas  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things  a  whole  life 
is  devoted  to  sowing  and  a  whole  post-mortem  exist- 
ence to  ruminating  and  incorporating  the  soul  sub- 
stance, this  cycle  of  a  thousand  years,  more  or  less, 
may  be  reduced  to  a  day,  as  held  by  the  mystic  maxim, 
"A  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years 
as  one  day."  To  be  explicit,  whatever  work  has  been 
done  during  a  single  day,  if  ruminated  over  at  night 
before  crossing  the  neutral  point  between  waking 
and  sleeping,  may  thus  be  incorporated  into  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  spirit  as  usable  soul  power.  When 
that  exercise  is  faithfully  performed,  the  sins  of  each 
day  thus  reviewed  are  actually  blotted  out,  and  the 
man  commences  each  day  as  if  it  were  a  new  life,  with 
the  added  soul  power  gained  in  all  the  preceding  days 
of  his  probationary  life. 

But ! — yes,  there  is  a  great  big  BUT;  nature  is  not 
to  be  cheated;  God  is  not  to  be  mocked.  "Whatsoever 
a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  Let  no  one 
think  that  the  mere  perfunctory  review  of  the  hap- 
penings of  a  day  with  perhaps  the  light-hearted  ad- 
mission of,  "I  wish  I  had  not  done  that,"  when  re- 
viewing a  scene  where  he  did  something  palpably 
wrong,  will  save  him  from  the  wrath  to  come.  When 
we  pass  out  of  the  body  into  purgatory  at  death  and 
the  panorama  of  our  past  life  unfolds  in  reverse  order 
to  show  us  first  the  effects  and  then  the  causes  which 
produced  them,  we  feel  in  intensified  measure  the  pain 
we  gave  others;  and  unless  we  perform  our  exercises 


INITIATION  :  WHAT  IT  Is  AND  Is  NOT          19 

in  a  similar  manner  so  that  we  live  each  evening  our 
hell  as  merited  that  day,  acutely  sensible  of  every 
pang  we  have  inflicted,  it  will  avail  nothing.  We  must 
also  endeavor  to  feel  in  the  same  intense  manner, 
gratitude  for  kindness  received  from  others,  and 
approbation  on  account  of  the  good  we  ourselves  have 
done. 

Only  thus  are  we  really  living  the  post-mortem 
existence  and  advancing  scientifically  towards  the 
goal  of  Initiation.  The  greatest  danger  of  the  aspirant 
upon  this  path  is  that  he  may  become  enmeshed  in  the 
snare  of  egotism,  and  his  only  safeguard  is  to  cultivate 
the  faculties  of  faith,  devotion,  and  an  all-embracing 
sympathy.  It  is  difficult,  but  it  can  be  done,  and 
when  it  has  been  accomplished  the  man  or  woman  be- 
comes a  wonderful  power  for  good  in  the  world. 

Now,  if  the  student  has  pondered  the  preceding 
argument  well,  he  has  probably  grasped  the  analogy 
between  the  long  cycle  of  evolution  and  the  short 
cycles  or  steps  used  upon  the  path  of  preparation.  It 
should  be  quite  clear  that  no  one  can  do  this  post- 
mortem work  for  him  and  transmit  to  him  the  result- 
ing soul  growth,  any  more  than  one  can  eat  the  phys- 
ical food  of  another  and  transmit  to  him  the  susten- 
ance and  growth.  You  think  it  preposterous  when  a 
priesthood  offers  to  shorten  the  sojourn  of  a  soul  in 
purgatory.  How,  then,  can  you  believe  that  anyone 
else  can — no  matter  what  the  consideration — obviate 
the  necessity  of  a  number  of  purgatorial  existences  for 


20  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

your  benefit  and  transmit  to  you  at  once  the  usable 
soul  power  you  would  have  acquired  had  you  pursued 
the  ordinary  T*qu*se  of  life  to  the  day  you  are  ready 
for  Initiation?  Yet  this  is  what  the  offer  to  initiate 
a  person  not  yet  upon  the  threshold  means.  You 
must  have  the  soul  power  requisite  for  Initiation  or 
no  one  can  initiate  you.  If  you  have  it,  you  are  upon 
the  threshold  by  your  own  efforts,  beholden  to  no  one, 
and  may  demand  Initiation  as  a  right  which  none 
would  dare  dispute  or  withhold.  If  you  have  it  not 
and  could  buy  it,  it  would  be  cheap  at  twenty-five 
million  dollars,  and  the  man  who  offers  it  for  twenty- 
five  dollars  is  as  ridiculous  as  his  dupe.  Please  re- 
member that  if  anyone  offers  to  initiate  you  into  an 
occult  order,  no  matter  if  he  calls  it '  *  Rosicrucian ' '  or 
by  any  other  name,  his  demand  of  an  initiation  fee  at 
once  stamps  him  as  an  impostor,  explanations  to  the 
effect  that  the  fee  is  used  to  purchase  regalia,  et  cetera, 
are  only  added  evidence  of  the  fraudulent  nature  of 
the  order  for  it  is  said,  "Initiation  is  most  emphatic- 
ally not  an  outward  ceremony,  but  an  inward  expe- 
rience." I  may  further  add  that  the  Elder  Brothers 
of  the  Rose  Cross  in  the  Mystic  Temple  where  I  re- 
ceived the  Light  made  it  a  condition  that  their  sacred 
science  must  never  be  put  in  the  balance  against  a 
coin.  Freely  had  I  received,  and  freely  was  I  required 
to  give.  This  injunction  I  have  obeyed,  both  in  spirit 
and  to  the  letter,  as  all  know  who  have  had  dealings 
with  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship. 


21 


Chapter  III 

SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION 
PART  I 


TO  OBTAIN  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  deep 
and  far-reaching  significance  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  Sacrament  of  Communion  was  instituted,  it 
is  necessary  to  consider  the  evolution  of  our  planet 
and  of  composite  man,  also  the  chemistry  of  foods  and 
their  influence  on  humanity.  For  the  sake  of  lucidity 
we  will  briefly  recapitulate  the  Rosicrucian  teachings 
on  the  various  points  involved.  They  have  been  given 
at  length  in  the  Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Conception  and 
our  other  works. 

The  Virgin  Spirits,  which  are  now  mankind,  com- 
menced their  pilgrimage  through  matter  in  the  dawn 
of  time,  that  by  the  friction  of  concrete  existence  their 
latent  powers  might  be  transmuted  to  kinetic  energy 
as  usable  soul  power.  Three  successive  veils  of  in- 
creasingly dense  matter  were  acquired  by  the  involv- 
ing spirits  during  the  Saturn,  Sun,  and  Moon  Periods. 
Thus  each  spirit  was  separated  from  all  other  spirits, 
and  the  consciousness  which  could  not  penetrate  the 
prison  wall  of  matter  and  communicate  with  others 


22  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

was  forced  to  turn  inwards,  and  in  so  doing  it  dis- 
covered— ITSELF.  Thus  self -consciousness  was  at- 
tained. 

A  further  crystallization  of  the  before  mentioned 
veils  took  place  in  the  Earth  Period  during  the 
Polarian,  Hyperborean,  and  Lemurian  Epochs.  In 
the  Atlantean  Epoch,  mind  was  added  as  a  focusing 
point  between  spirit  and  body,  completing  the  con- 
stitution of  composite  man,  who  was  then  equipped 
to  conquer  the  world  and  generate  soul  power  by  en- 
deavor and  experience,  each  having  free  will  and 
choice  except  as  limited  by  the  laws  of  nature  and  hi* 
own  previous  acts. 

During  the  time  man-in-the-making  was  thus  evolv- 
ing, great  creative  Hierarchies  guided  his  every  step. 
Absolutely  nothing  was  left  to  chance.  Even  the 
food  he  ate  was  chosen  for  him  so  that  he  might  obtain 
the  appropriate  material  wherewith  to  build  the  va- 
rious vehicles  of  consciousness  necessary  to  accomplish 
the  process  of  soul  growth.  The  Bible  mentions  the 
various  stages,  though  it  misplaces  Nimrod,  making 
him  to  symbolize  the  Atlantean  kings  who  lived  before 
the  Flood . 

In  the  Polarian  Epoch  pure  mineral  matter  be- 
came a  constituent  part  of  man ;  thus  Adam  was  made 
of  earth,  that  is,  so  far  as  his  dense  body  was  con- 
cerned. 

In  the  Hyperborean  Epoch  the  vital  body  was 
added,  and  thus  his  constitution  became  plantlike, 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION  23 

and  Cain,  the  man  of  that  time,  lived  on  the  fruits  of 
the  soil. 

The  Lemurian  Epoch  saw  the  evolution  of  a  desire 
body,  which  made  man  like  the  present  animals.  Then 
milk,  the  product  of  living  animals,  was  added  to 
human  diet.  Abel  was  a  shepherd,  but  it  is  nowhere 
stated  that  he  killed  an  animal. 

At  that  time  mankind  lived  innocently  and  peace- 
fully in  the  misty  atmosphere  which  enveloped  the 
earth  during  the  latter  part  of  the  Lemurian  Epoch,  as 
described  in  the  chapter  on  "  Baptism. "  Men  were 
then  like  children  under  the  care  of  a  common  father, 
until  the  mind  was  given  to  all  in  the  beginning  of 
Atlantis.  Thought  activity  breaks  down  tissue  which 
must  be  replaced;  the  lower  and  more  material  the 
thought,  the  greater  the  havoc  and  the  more  pressing 
the  need  for  albumen  wherewith  to  make  quick  re- 
pairs. Hence  necessity,  the  mother  of  invention,  in- 
augurated the  loathsome  practice  of  flesh  eating,  and 
so  long  as  we  continue  to  think  along  purely  business 
or  material  lines  we  shall  have  to  go  on  using  our 
stomachs  as  receptacles  for  the  decaying  corpses  of 
our  murdered  animal  victims.  Yet  we  shall  see  later 
that  flesh  food  has  enabled  us  to  make  the  wonderf  ol 
material  progress  achieved  in  the  Western  World, 
while  the  vegetarian  Hindus  and  Chinese  have  re- 
mained in  an  almost  savage  state.  It  seems  sad  to 
contemplate  that  they  will  be  forced  to  follow  in  our 
steps  and  shed  the  blood  of  our  fellow  creatures  when 


24  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

we  shall  have  outgrown  the  barbarous  practice  as  we 
have  ceased  cannibalism. 

The  more  spiritual  we  grow,  the  more  our  thoughts 
will  harmonize  with  the  rhythm  of  our  body,  and  the 
less  albumen  will  be  needed  to  build  tissue.  Conse- 
quently, a  vegetable  diet  will  suffice  our  needs. 
Pythagoras  advised  abstinence  from  legumes  to  ad- 
vanced scholars  because  they  are  rich  in  albumen  and 
apt  to  revive  lower  appetites.  Let  not  every  student 
who  reads  this  rashly  conclude  to  eliminate  legumes 
from  his  diet.  Most  of  us  are  not  yet  ready  for  such 
extremes;  we  would  not  even  advise  all  students 
to  abstain  entirely  from  meat.  The  change  should 
come  from  within.  It  may  be  safely  stated,  however, 
that  most  people  eat  entirely  too  much  meat  for  their 
good ;  but  this  is  in  a  certain  sense  a  digression,  so  we 
will  revert  to  the  further  evolution  of  humanity  in  so 
far  as  it  has  a  bearing  upon  the  Sacrament  of  Com- 
inunion. 

In  due  time  the  dense  mist  which  enveloped  the 
earth  cooled,  condensed,  and  flooded  the  various 
basins.  The  atmosphere  cleared,  and  concurrently 
with  this  atmospheric  change  a  physiological  adapta- 
tion in  man  took  place.  The  gill  clefts  which  had  en- 
able him  to  breathe  in  the  dense  water  laden  air 
(and  which  are  seen  in  the  human  foetus  to  this  day) 
gradually  atrophied,  and  their  function  was  taken 
over  by  the  lungs,  the  pure  air  passing  to  and  from 
them  through  the  larynx.  This  allowed  the  spirit, 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION  25 

hitherto  penned  up  within  the  veil  of  flesh,  to  express 
itself  in  word  and  act. 

There  in  the  middle  of  Atlantis  the  sun  first  shone 
upon  MAN  as  we  know  him;  there  he  was  first  born 
into  the  world.  Until  then  he  had  been  under  the 
absolute  control  of  great  spiritual  Hierarchies,  mute, 
without  voice  or  choice  in  matters  pertaining  to  his 
education,  as  a  child  is  now  under  the  control  of  its 
parents. 

But  on  the  day  when  he  finally  emerged  from  the 
dense  atmosphere  of  Atlantis;  when  he  first  beheld 
the  mountains  silhouetted  in  clear,  sharp  contours 
against  the  azure  vault  of  heaven;  when  he  first  saw 
the  beauties  of  moor  and  meadow,  the  moving  crea- 
tures, birds  in  the  air,  and  his  fellow  man;  when  his 
vision  was  undimmed  by  the  partial  obscuration  of  the 
mist  which  had  previously  hampered  perception; 
above  all,  when  he  perceived  HIMSELF  as  separate  and 
apart  from  all  others,  there  burst  from  his  lips  the 
glorious,  triumphant  cry,  "i  AM." 

At  that  point  he  had  acquired  faculties  which 
equipped  him  to  enter  the  school  of  experience,  the 
phenomenal  world,  as  a  free  agent  to  learn  the  lessons 
of  life,  untrammeled  save  by  the  laws  of  nature, 
which  are  his  safeguards,  and  the  reaction  of  his  own 
previous  acts,  which  become  destiny. 

The  diet  containing  an  excess  of  albumen  from  the 
flesh  wherewith  he  gorged  himself,  taxed  his  liver  be- 
yond capacity  and  clogged  the  system,  making  him 


26  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

morose,  sullen,  and  brutish.  He  was  fast  losing  the 
spiritual  sight  which  revealed  to  him  the  guardian 
angels  whom  he  trusted,  and  he  saw  only  the  forms  of 
animals  and  men.  The  spirits  with  whom  he  had  lived 
in  love  and  brotherhood  during  early  Atlantis  were 
obscured  by  the  veil  of  flesh.  It  was  all  so  strange, 
and  he  feared  them. 

Therefore  it  became  necessary  to  give  him  a  new 
food  that  could  aid  his  spirit  to  overpower  the  highly 
individualized  molecules  of  flesh  (as  explained  in  the 
Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Conception,  chapter  on  Assimila- 
tion, p.  457),  brace  it  for  battle  with  the  world,  and 
spur  it  on  to  self-assertion. 

As  our  visible  bodies  composed  of  chemical  com- 
pounds can  thrive  only  upon  chemical  aliment,  so  it 
requires  spirit  to  act  upon  spirit  to  aid  in  breaking 
up  the  heavy  proteid  and  in  stimulating  the  drooping 
human  spirit. 

The  emergence  from  flooded  Atlantis,  the  liberation 
of  humanity  from  the  absolute  rulership  of  visible 
superhuman  guardians,  their  placement  under  the  law 
of  consequence  and  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the  gift  of 
WINE  are  described  in  the  stories  of  Noah  and  Moses, 
which  are  different  accounts  of  the  same  event. 

Both  Noah  and  Moses  led  their  followers  through 
the  water.  Moses  calls  heaven  and  earth  to  witness 
that  he  has  placed  before  them  the  blessing  and  the 
curse,  exhorts  them  to  choose  the  good  or  take  the 
consequence  of  their  actions ;  then  he  leaves  them. 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION  27 

The  phenomenon  of  the  rainbow  requires  that  the 
sun  be  near  the  horizon,  the  nearer  the  better;  also  a 
clear  atmosphere,  and  a  dark  rain  cloud  in  the  oppo- 
site quarter  of  the  heavens.  When  under  such  con- 
ditions an  observer  stands  with  his  back  to  the  sun, 
he  may  see  the  sun's  rays  refracted  through  the  rain 
drops  as  a  rainbow.  In  early  Atlantean  times  when 
there  had  been  no  rain  as  yet  and  the  atmosphere  was 
a  warm,  moist  fog  through  which  the  sun  appeared 
as  one  of  our  arc  lamps  on  a  foggy  day,  the  phenom- 
enon of  the  rainbow  was  an  impossibility.  It  could 
not  have  made  its  appearance  until  the  mist  had  con- 
densed to  rain,  flooded  the  basins  of  the  earth,  and 
left  the  atmosphere  clear  as  described  in  the  story  of 
Noah,  which  thus  points  to  the  law  of  alternating 
cycles  that  brings  day  and  night,  summer  and  winter, 
in  unvarying  sequence,  and  to  which  man  is  subject  in 
the  present  age. 

Noah  cultivated  the  vine  and  provided  a  spirit  to 
stimulate  man.  Thus,  equipped  with  a  composite 
constitution,  a  composite  diet  appropriate  thereto,  and 
divine  laws  to  guide  them,  mankind  were  left  to  their 
own  devices  in  the  battle  of  life. 


28 


Chapter  IV 

THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION 
"In  Remembrance  of  Me." 

PART  II 

LORD  JESUS,  the  same  night  in  which 
he  was  betrayed  took  bread ;  and  when  he  had 
given  thanks,  he  brake  it  and  said,  Take,  eat;  this  is 
MY  body,  which  is  broken  for  you.  This  do  in  re- 
membrance of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also  he 
took  the  cup,  when  he  had  supped,  saying1  This  cup 
is  the  New  Testament  in  MY  blood.  This  do  ye,  as  oft 
as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.  For  as  often  as 
ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  shew  the 
Lord 's  death  till  he  come.  Wherefore,  whosoever  shall 
eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup  of  the  Lord  un- 
worthily, shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord  ....  For  he  that  eateth  and  drink- 
eth  unworthily,  eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to 
himself  ....  For  this  cause  many  are  weak 
and  sickly  among  you,  and  many  sleep." — I  Cor. 
11 :23-30. 

In  the  foregoing  passages  there  is  a  deeply  hidden 
esoteric  meaning  which  is  particularly  obscured  in  the 
English  translation,  but  in  the  German,  Latin,  and 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION  29 

Greek,  the  student  still  has  a  hint  as  to  what  was 
really  intended  by  that  last  parting  injunction  of  the 
Savior  to  His  disciples.  Before  examining  this  phase 
of  the  subject,  let  us  first  consider  the  words,  "in  re- 
membrance of  me."  We  shall  then  perhaps  be  in 
better  condition  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  the 
1  'cup"  and  the  "bread." 

Suppose  a  man  from  a  distant  country  comes  into 
our  midst  and  travels  about  from  place  to  place. 
Everywhere  he  will  see  small  communities  gathering 
around  the  Table  of  the  Lord  to  celebrate  this  most 
sacred  of  all  Christian  rites,  and  should  he  ask  why, 
he  would  be  told  that  they  do  this  in  remembrance  of 
One  who  lived  a  life  nobler  than  any  other  has  lived 
upon  this  earth ;  One  who  was  kindness  and  love  per- 
sonified; One  who  was  the  servant  of  all,  regardless 
of  gain  or  loss  to  self.  Should  this  stranger  then 
compare  the  attitude  of  these  religious  communities 
on  Sunday  at  the  celebration  of  this  rite,  with  their 
civic  lives  during  the  remainder  of  the  week,  what 
would  he  see? 

Every  one  among  us  goes  out  into  the  world  to  fight 
the  battle  of  existence.  Under  the  law  of  necessity  we 
forget  the  love  which  should  be  the  ruling  factor  in 
Christian  lives.  Every  man's  hand  is  against  his 
brother.  Every  one  strives  for  position,  wealth,  and 
power  that  goes  with  these  attributes.  We  forget  on 
Monday  what  we  reverently  remembered  on  Sunday, 
and  all  the  world  is  poor  in  consequence.  We  also 


30  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

make  a  distinction  between  the  bread  and  wine  which 
we  drink  at  the  so-called  " Lord's  Table,"  and  the 
food  of  which  we  partake  during  the  intervals  be- 
tween attendance  at  Communion.  But  there  is  no 
warrant  in  the  Scriptures  for  any  such  distinction,  as 
anyone  may  see,  even  in  the  English  version,  by  leav- 
ing out  the  words  printed  in  italics  which  have  been 
inserted  by  the  translators  to  give  what  they  thought 
was  the  sense  of  a  passage.  On  the  contrary,  we  arc 
told  that  whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or  whatever  we  do, 
all  should  be  done  to  the  glory  of  God.  Our  every 
act  should  be  a  prayer.  The  perfunctory  "grace"  at 
meals  is  in  reality  a  blasphemy,  and  the  silent  thought 
of  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  daily  bread  is  far  to  be 
preferred.  When  we  remember  at  each  meal  that  it 
has  been  drawn  from  the  substance  of  the  earth,  which 
is  the  body  of  the  indwelling  Christ  Spirit,  we  can 
properly  understand  how  that  body  is  being  broken 
for  us  daily,  and  we  can  appreciate  the  loving  kind- 
ness which  prompted  Him  thus  to  give  Himself  for 
us;  for  let  us  also  remember  that  there  is  not  a  mo- 
ment, day  or  night,  that  He  is  not  suffering  because 
bound  to  this  earth.  When  we  thus  eat  and  thus 
realize  the  true  situation,  we  are  indeed  declaring  to 
ourselves  the  death  of  the  Lord,  whose  spirit  is  groan- 
ing and  travailing,  waiting  for  the  day  of  liberation 
when  there  shall  be  no  need  of  such  a  dense  environ- 
ment as  we  now  require. 

But  there  is  another,  a  greater  and  more  wonderful 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION  31 

mystery  hidden  in  these  words  of  the  Christ.  Richard 
Wagner,  with  the  rare  intuition  of  the  master  musi- 
cian, sensed  this  idea  when  he  sat  in  meditation  by 
the  Zurich  Sea  on  a  Good  Friday,  and  there  flashed 
into  his  mind  the  thought,  "What  connection  is  there 
between  the  death  of  the  Savior  and  the  millions  of 
seeds  sprouting  forth  from  the  earth  at  this  time  of 
the  year?"  If  we  meditate  upon  that  life  which  i.i 
annually  poured  out  in  the  spring,  we  see  it  as  some- 
thing gigantic  and  awe-inspiring ;  a  flood  of  life  which 
transforms  the  globe  from  one  of  frozen  death  to  re- 
juvenated life  in  a  short  space  of  time;  and  the  life 
which  thus  diffuses  itself  in  the  budding  of  millions 
and  millions  of  plants  is  the  life  of  the  Earth  Spirit. 

From  that  come  both  the  wheat  and  the  grape.  They 
are  the  body  and  blood  of  the  imprisoned  Earth  Spirit, 
given  to  sustain  mankind  during  the  present  phase  of 
its  evolution.  We  repudiate  the  contention  of  people 
who  claim  that  the  world  owes  them  a  living,  regard- 
less of  their  own  efforts  and  without  material  responsi- 
bility on  their  part,  but  we  nevertheless  insist  that 
there  is  a  spiritual  responsibility  connected  with  the 
bread  and  wine  given  at  the  Lord's  Supper:  It  must 
'be  eaten  worthily,  otherwise,  under  pain  of  ill  health 
and  even  death.  This  from  the  ordinary  manner  of 
reading  would  seem  far-fetched,  but  when  we  bring 
the  light  of  esotericism  to  bear,  examine  other  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible,  and  look  at  conditions  in  the 


• 


32  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

world  as  we  find  them  today,  we  shall  see  that  it  is 
not  so  far-fetched  after  all. 

To  begin  with,  we  must  go  back  to  the  time  when 
man  lived  under  the  guardianship  of  the  angels, 
unconsciously  building  the  body  which  he  now  uses. 
That  was  in  ancient  Lemuria.  A  brain  was  needed 
for  the  evolution  of  thought,  and  a  larynx  for 
verbal  expression  of  the  same.  Therefore,  half  of 
the  creative  force  was  turned  upwards  and  used 
by  man  to  form  these  organs.  Thus  mankind  be- 
came single  sexed  and  was  forced  to  seek  a  comple- 
ment when  it  was  necessary  to  create  a  new  body  to 
serve  as  an  instrument  in  a  higher  phase  of  evolution. 

"While  the  act  of  love  was  consummated  under  the 
wise  guardianship  of  the  angels,  man's  existence  was 
free  from  sorrow,  pain,  and  death.  But  when,  under 
the  tutelage  of  the  Lucifer  Spirits,  he  ate  of  the  Tree 
of  Knowledge  and  perpetuated  the  race  without  re- 
gard for  interplanetary  lines  of  force,  he  transgressed 
the  law,  and  the  bodies  thus  formed  crystallized  un- 
duly, and  became  subject  to  death  in  a  much  more 
perceptible  manner  than  had  hitherto  been  the  case. 
Thus  he  was  forced  to  create  new  bodies  more  fre- 
quently as  the  span  of  life  in  them  shortened.  Celestial 
warders  of  the  creative  force  drove  him  from  the 
garden  of  love  into  the  wilderness  of  the  world,  and 
he  was  made  responsible  for  his  actions  under  the 
cosmic  law  which  governs  the  universe.  Thus  for 
ages  he  struggled  on,  seeking  to  work  out  his  own  sal- 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION  33 

vation,  and  the  earth  in  consequence  crystallized  more 
and  more. 

Divine  hierarchies,  the  Christ  Spirit  included, 
worked  upon  the  earth  from  without  as  the  group 
spirit  guides  the  animals  under  its  protectorate ;  but  as 
Paul  truly  says,  none  could  be  justified  under  the 
law,  for  under  the  law  all  sinned,  and  all  must  die. 
There  is  in  the  old  covenant  no  hope  beyond  the  pres- 
ent, save  a  foreshadowing  of  one  who  is  to  come  and 
restore  righteousness.  Thus  John  tells  us  that  the  law 
was  given  by  Moses,  and  grace  came  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  But  what  is  grace  f  Can  grace  work  con- 
trary to  law  and  abrogate  it  entirely?  Certainly  not. 
The  laws  of  God  are  steadfast  and  sure,  or  the  uni- 
verse would  become  chaos.  The  law  of  gravity  keeps 
our  houses  in  position  relative  to  other  houses,  so  that 
when  we  leave  them  we  may  know  of  a  surety  that  we 
shall  find  them  in  the  same  place  upon  returning. 
Likewise  all  other  departments  in  the  universe  are 
subject  to  immutable  laws. 

As  law,  apart  from  love,  gave  'birth  to  sin,  so  the 
child  of  law,  tempered  with  love,  is  grace.  Take  an 
example  from  our  concrete  social  conditions :  We  have 
laws  which  decree  a  certain  penalty  for  a  specified 
offense,  and  when  the  law  is  carried  out,  we  call  it 
justice.  But  long  experience  is  beginning  to  teach  us 
that  justice,  pure  and  simple,  is  like  the  Colchian 
dragon's  teeth,  and  breeds  strife  and  struggle  in  in- 
creasing measure.  The  criminal,  so-called,  remains 

3 


34  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

criminal  and  becomes  more  and  more  hardened  under 
the  ministrations  of  law;  but  when  the  milder  regime 
of  the  present  day  allows  one  who  has  transgressed  to 
go  under  suspended  sentence,  then  he  is  under  grace 
and  not  under  law.  Thus,  also  the  Christian,  who  aims 
to  follow  in  the  Master's  steps,  is  emancipated  from 
the  law  of  sin  by  grace,  provided  he  forsake  the  path 
of  sin. 

It  was  the  sin  of  our  progenitors  in  ancient  Lemuria 
that  they  scattered  their  seed  regardless  of  law  and 
without  love.  But  it  is  the  privilege  of  the  Christian 
to  redeem  himself  by  purity  of  life  in  remembrance 
of  the  Lord.  John  says,  "His  seed  remaineth  in 
him,"  and  this  is  the  hidden  meaning  of  the  bread 
and  wine.  In  the  English  version  we  read  simply: 
"This  is  the  cup  of  the  New  Testament,"  but  in  the 
German  the  word  for  cup  is  "Kelch,"  and  in  the 
Latin,  "Calix,"  both  meaning  the  outer  covering  of 
the  seed  pod  of  the  flower.  In  the  Greek  we  have  a 
still  more  subtle  meaning,  not  conveyed  in  other 
languages,  in  the  word  "poterion,"  a  meaning  which 
will  be  evident  when  we  consider  the  etymology  of  the 
word  "pot."  This  at  once  gives  us  the  same  idea  as 
the  chalice  or  calix — a  receptacle;  and  the  Latin 
"potare"  (to  drink)  also  shows  that  the  "cup"  is 
a  receptacle  capable  of  holding  a  fluid.  Our  English 
words  "potent"  and  "impotent,"  meaning  to  possess 
or  to  lack  virile  strength,  further  show  the  meaning 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  COMMUNION  35 

of  this  Greek  word,  which  foreshadows  the  evolution 
from  man  to  superman. 

We  have  already  lived  through  a  mineral,  a  plant, 
and  an  animal-like  existence  before  becoming  human 
as  we  are  today,  and  beyond  us  lie  still  further  evolu- 
tions where  we  shall  approach  the  Divine  more  and 
more.  It  will  be  readily  conceded  that  it  is  our 
animal  passions  which  restrain  us  upon  the  path  of 
attainment;  the  lower  nature  is  constantly  warring 
against  the  higher  self.  At  least  in  those  who  have 
experienced  a  spiritual  awakening,  a  war  is  being 
fought  silently  within,  and  is  all  the  more  bitter  for 
being  suppressed.  Goethe  with  masterly  art  voiced 
that  sentiment  in  the  words  of  Faust,  the  aspiring 
soul,  speaking  to  his  more  materialistic  friend,  Wag- 
ner : 

"Thou  by  one  sole  impulse  art  possessed, 

Unconscious  of  the  other  still  remain. 
Two  souls,  alas,  are  housed  within  my  breast, 

And  struggle  there  for  undivided  reign. 
One,  to  the  earth  with  passionate  desire, 

And  closely  clinging  organs  still  adheres; 
Above  the  mists  the  other  doth  aspire 

With  sacred  ardor  unto  purer  spheres." 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  this  absolute  necessity  of 
chastity  (save  when  procreation  is  the  object)  upon 
the  part  of  those  who  have  had  a  spiritual  awakening 


36  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

which  dictated  the  words  of  Christ,  and  the  Apostle 
Paul  stated  an  esoteric  truth  when  he  said  that  those 
who  partook  of  the  Communion  without  living  the 
life  were  in  danger  of  sickness  and  death.  For  just  as 
under  a  spiritual  tutelage,  purity  of  life  may  elevate 
the  disciple  wonderfully,  so  also  unchastity  has  a 
much  stronger  effect  upon  his  more  sensitized  bodies 
than  upon  those  who  are  yet  under  the  law,  and  have1 
not  became  partakers  of  grace  by  the  cup  of  the  New 
Covenant. 


37 


Chapter  V 
THE  SACRAMENT  OP  BAPTISM 

HAVING  studied  the  esoteric  significance  of  our 
Christian  festivals,  such  as  Christmas  and 
Easter,  and  having  also  studied  the  doctrine  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  it  may  be  well  now  to  devote 
attention  to  the  inner  meaning  of  the  sacraments  of 
the  church  which  are  administered  to  the  individual 
in  all  Christian  lands  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave, 
and  are  with  him  at  all  important  points  in  his  life 
journey. 

As  soon  as  he  has  entered  upon  the  journey  of  life, 
the  church  admits  him  into  its  fold  by  the  rite  of  Bap- 
tism which  is  conferred  upon  him  at  a  time  when  he 
himself  is  irresponsible ;  later,  when  his  mentality  has 
been  somewhat  developed,  he  ratifies  that  contract 
and  is  admitted  to  Communion,  where  bread  is  broken 
and  wine  is  sipped  in  memory  of  the  Founder  of  our 
faith.  Still  further  upon  life's  journey  comes  the 
sacrament  of  Marriage;  and  at  last  when  the  race  has 
been  run  and  the  spirit  again  withdraws  to  God  who 
gave  it,  the  earth  body  is  consigned  to  the  dust,  whence 


38  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

it  was  derived,  accompanied  by  the  blessings  of  the 
church. 

In  our  Protestant  times  the  spirit  of  protest  is 
rampant  in  the  extreme,  and  dissenters  everywhere 
raise  their  voices  in  rebellion  against  the  fancied 
arrogance  of  the  priesthood  and  deprecate  the  sacra- 
ments as  mere  mummery.  On  account  of  that 
attitude  of  mind  these  functions  have  become  of  little 
or  no  effect  in  the  life  of  the  community ;  dissensions 
have  arisen  even  among  churchmen  themselves,  and 
sect  after  sect  has  divorced  itself  from  the  original 
apostolic  congregation. 

Despite  all  protests  the  various  doctrines  and  sacra- 
ments of  the  church  are,  nevertheless,  the  very  key- 
stones in  the  arch  of  evolution,  for  they  inculcate 
morals  of  the  loftiest  nature;  and  even  materialistic 
scientists,  such  as  Huxley,  have  admitted  that  while 
self-protection  brings  about  "the  survival  of  the 
fittest"  in  the  animal  kingdom  and  is  therefore  the 
basis  of  animal  evolution,  self-sacrifice  is  the  foster- 
ing principle  of  human  advancement.  When  that  is 
the  case  among  mere  mortals,  we  may  well  believe 
that  it  must  be  so  to  a  still  greater  extent  in  the  Di- 
vine Author  of  our  being. 

Among  animals  might  is  right,  but  we  recognize 
that  the  weak  have  a  claim  to  the  protection  of  the 
strong.  The  butterfly  lays  its  eggs  on  the  underside 
of  a  green  leaf  and  goes  off  without  another  care  for 
their  well-being.  In  mammals  the  mother  instinct  is 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM  39 

strongly  developed,  and  we  see  the  lioness  caring  for 
her  cubs  and  ready  to  defend  them  with  her  life ;  but 
not  until  the  human  kingdom  is  reached  does  the 
father  commence  to  share  fully  in  the  responsibility 
as  a  parent.  Among  savages  the  care  of  the  young  prac- 
tically ends  with  attainment  of  physical  ability  to  care 
for  themselves,  but  the  higher  we  ascend  in  civilization 
the  longer  the  young  receive  care  from  their  parents, 
and  the  more  stress  is  laid  upon  mental  education  so 
that  when  maturity  has  been  reached  the  battle  of  life 
may  be  fought  from  the  mental  rather  than  from  the 
physical  point  of  vantage ;  for  the  further  we  proceed 
along  the  path  of  development  the  more  we  shall  expe- 
rience the  power  of  mind  over  matter.  By  the  more 
and  more  prolonged  self-sacrifice  of  parents,  the  race 
is  becoming  more  delicate,  but  what  we  lose  in  mate- 
rial ruggedness  we  gain  in  spiritual  perceptibility. 

As  this  faculty  grows  stronger  and  more  develoned, 
the  craving  of  the  spirit  immured  in  this  earthly  body 
-voices  itself  more  loudly  in  a  demand  for  understand- 
ing of  the  spiritual  side  of  development.  Wallace  and 
Darwin,  Huxley  and  Spencer,  pointed  out  how  evolu- 
tion of  form  is  accomplished  in  nature;  Ernest 
Haeckel  attempted  to  solve  the  riddle  of  the  universe, 
Tmt  no  one  of  them  could  satisfactorily  explain  away 
the  Divine  Author  of  what  we  see.  The  great  goddess, 
Natural  Selection,  is  being  forsaken  by  one  after  an- 
other of  her  devotees  as  the  years  go  by.  Even  Haeckel, 
the  arch  materialist,  in  his  last  years  showed  an 


40  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

almost  hysterical  anxiety  to  make  a  place  for  God  in 
his  system,  and  the  day  will  come  in  a  not  far  distant 
future  when  science  will  have  become  as  thoroughly 
religious  as  religion  itself.  The  church,  on  the  other 
hand,  though  still  extremely  conservative  is  neverthe- 
less slowly  abandoning  its  autocratic  dogmatism  and 
becoming  more  scientific  in  its  explanations.  Thus  in 
time  we  shall  see  the  union  of  science  and  religion  as 
it  existed  in  the  ancient  mystery  temples,  and  when 
that  point  has  been  reached,  the  doctrines  and  sacra- 
ments of  the  church  will  be  found  to  rest  upon  im- 
mutable cosmic  laws  of  no  less  importance  than  the 
law  of  gravity  which  maintains  the  marching  orbs  in 
their  paths  around  the  sun.  As  the  points  of  the1 
equinoxes  and  solstices  are  turning  points  in  the  cyclic 
path  of  a  planet,  marked  by  festivals  such  as  Christ- 
mas and  Easter,  so  birth  into  the  physical  world,  ad- 
mission to  the  church,  to  the  state  of  matrimony,  and 
finally  the  exit  from  physical  life,  are  points  in  the 
cyclic  path  of  the  human  spirit  around  its  central 
source — God,  which  are  marked  by  the  sacraments  of 
baptism,  communion,  marriage,  and  the  last  blessing. 
We  will  now  consider  the  rite  of  baptism.  Much  has 
been  said  by  dissenters,  against  the  practice  of  taking 
an  infant  into  church  and  promising  for  it  a  religion  * 
life.  Heated  arguments  concerning  sprinkling  versus 
plunging  have  resulted  in  division  of  churches.  If  we 
wish  to  obtain  the  true  idea  of  baptism,  we  must  revert 
to  the  early  history  of  the  human  race  as  recorded  in 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM  41 

the  Memory  of  Nature.  All  that  has  ever  happened 
is  indelibly  pictured  in  the  ether  as  a  moving  picture 
is  imprinted  upon  a  sensitized  film,  which  picture 
can  be  reproduced  upon  a  screen  at  any  moment. 
The  pictures  in  the  Memory  of  Nature  may  be 
viewed  by  the  trained  seer,  even  though  millions  of 
years  have  elapsed  since  the  scenes  there  portrayed 
were  enacted  in  life. 

When  we  consult  that  unimpeachable  record  it  ap- 
pears that  there  was  a  time  when  that  which  is  now 
our  earth  came  out  of  chaos,  dark  and  unformed,  as 
the  Bible  states.  The  currents  developed  in  this 
misty  mass  by  spiritual  agencies,  generated  heat,  and 
the  mass  ignited  at  the  time  when  we  are  told  that  God 
said,  "Let  there  be  light."  The  heat  of  the  fiery 
mass  and  the  cold  space  surrounding  it  generated 
moisture;  the  fire  mist  became  surrounded  by  water 
which  boiled,  and  steam  was  projected  into  the  atmos- 
phere ;  thus  ' '  God  divided  the  water  ....  from 
the  waters  .  .  .  ." — the  dense  water  which  was 
nearest  the  fire  mist  from  the  steam  (which  is  water 
in  suspension),  as  stated  in  the  Bible. 

When  water  containing  sediment  is  boiled  over  and 
over  it  deposits  scale,  and  similarly  the  water  sur- 
rounding our  planet  finally  formed  a  crust  around  the 
fiery  core.  The  Bible  further  informs  us  that  a  mist 
went  up  from  the  ground,  and  we  may  well  conceive 
how  the  moisture  was  gradually  evaporated  from  our 
planet  in  those  early  days. 


42  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Ancient  myths  are  usually  regarded  as  superstitions 
nowadays,  but  in  reality  each  of  them  contains  a  great 
spiritual  truth  in  pictorial  symbols.  These  fantastic 
stories  were  given  to  infant  humanity  to  teach  them 
moral  lessons  which  their  newborn  intellects  were  not 
yet  fitted  to  receive.  They  were  taught  by  myths — 
much  as  we  teach  our  children  by  picture  books  and 
fables — lessons  beyond  their  intellectual  comprehen- 
sion. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  these  folk  stories  is  "The 
Ring  of  the  Niebelung",  which  tells  of  a  wonderful 
treasure  hidden  under  the  waters  of  the  Rhine.  It 
was  a  lump  of  gold  in  its  natural  state.  Placed  upon 
a  high  rock,  it  illuminated  the  entire  submarine 
scenery  where  water  nymphs  sported  about  innocently 
in  gladsome  frolic.  But  one  of  the  Niebelungs,  im- 
bued with  greed,  stole  the  treasure,  carried  it  out  of 
the  water,  and  fled.  It  was  impossible  for  him,  how- 
ever, to  shape  it  until  he  had  forsworn  love.  Then 
he  fashioned  it  into  a  ring  which  gave  him  power 
over  all  the  treasures  of  earth,  but  at  the  same  time 
it  inaugurated  dissension  and  strife.  For  its  sake, 
friend  betrayed  friend,  brother  slew  brother,  and 
everywhere  it  caused  oppression,  sorrow,  sin,  and 
death,  until  it  was  at  last  restored  to  the  watery  ele- 
ment and  the  earth  was  consumed  in  flames.  But 
later  there  arose,  like  the  new  phoenix  from  the  ashes 
of  the  old  bird,  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  where 
righteousness  was  re-established. 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM  43 

That  old  folk  story  gives  a  wonderful  picture  of 
human  evolution.  The  name  Niebelungen  is  derived 
from  the  German  words,  nebel  (which  means  mist), 
and  ungen  (which  means  children).  Thus  the  word 
Niebelungen  means  children  of  the  mist,  and  it  refers 
back  to  the  time  when  humanity  lived  in  the  foggy 
atmosphere  surrounding  our  earth  at  the  stage  in  its 
development  previously  mentioned.  There  infant  hu- 
manity lived  in  one  vast  brotherhood,  innocent  of  all 
evil  as  the  babe  of  today,  and  illuminated  by  the 
Universal  Spirit  symbolized  as  the  Rhinegold  which 
shed  its  light  upon  the  water  nymphs  of  our  story. 
But  in  time  the  earth  cooled  more  and  more ;  the  fog 
condensed  and  flooded  depressions  upon  the  surface 
of  the  earth  with  water ;  the  atmosphere  cleared ;  the 
eyes  of  man  were  opened  and  he  perceived  himself  as 
a  separate  ego.  Then  the  Universal  Spirit  of  love 
and  solidarity  was  superseded  by  egotism  and  self- 
seeking. 

That  was  the  rape  of  the  Rhinegold,  and  sorrow, 
sin,  strife,  treachery,  and  murder  have  given  place  to 
the  childlike  love  which  existed  among  humanity  in 
that  primal  state  when  they  dwelt  in  the  watery 
atmosphere  of  long  ago.  Gradually  this  tendency  is 
becoming  more  and  more  marked,  and  the  curse  of 
selfishness  grows  more  and  more  apparent.  "Man's 
inhumanity  to  man"  hangs  like  a  funeral  pall  over 
the  earth,  and  must  inevitably  bring  about  destruc- 
tion of  existing  conditions.  The  whole  creation  is 


44  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

groaning  and  travailing,  waiting  for  the  day  of  re- 
demption, and  the  Western  Religion  strikes  the  key- 
note of  the  way  to  attainment  when  it  exhorts  us  to 
love  our  neighbor  as  we  love  ourselves;  "for  then 
egotism  will  be  abrogated  for  universal  brotherhood 
and  love. 

Therefore,  when  a  person  is  admitted  to  the  church, 
which  is  a  spiritual  institution  where  love  and  brother- 
hood are  the  mainsprings  of  action,  it  is  appropriate 
to  carry  him  under  the  waters  of  baptism  in  symbol 
of  the  beautiful  condition  of  childlike  innocence  arid 
love  which  prevailed  when  mankind  dwelt  under  the 
mist  in  that  bygone  period.  At  that  time  the  eyes 
of  infant  man  had  not  yet  been  opened  to  the  mate- 
rial advantages  of  this  world.  The  little  child  which 
is  brought  into  the  church  has  not  yet  become  aware 
of  the  allurements  of  life  either,  and  others  obligate 
themselves  to  guide  it  to  lead  a  holy  life  according  to 
the  best  of  their  ability,  because  experience  gained 
since  the  Flood  has  taught  us  that  the  broad  way  of 
the  world  is  strewn  with  pain,  sorrow,  and  disappoint- 
ment ;  that  only  by  following  the  straight  and  narrow 
way  can  we  escape  death  and  enter  into  life  everlast- 
ing. 

Thus  we  see  that  there  is  a  wonderfully  deep,  mystic 
significance  behind  the  sacrament  of  baptism ;  that  it 
is  to  remind  us  of  the  blessings  attendant  upon  those 
who  are  members  of  a  brotherhood  where  self-seeking 
is  put  into  the  background  and  where  service  to  others 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM  43 

is  the  keynote  and  mainspring  of  action.  While  we 
are  in  the  world,  he  is  the  greatest  who  can  most  suc- 
cessfully dominate  others.  In  the  church  we  have 
Christ's  definition,  "He  who  would  ~be  the  greatest 
among  you,  let  him  be  the  servant  of  all." 


46 


Chapter  VI 
THE  SACRAMENT  OF  MARRIAGE 

WHEN  STRIPPED  of  nonessentials  the  argu- 
ment of  the  orthodox  Christian  religion  may  be 
said  to  be  as  follows: 

First,  that  tempted  by  the  devil,  our  first  parents 
sinned  and  were  exiled  from  their  previous  state  of 
celestial  bliss,  placed  under  the  law,  made  subject  to 
death,  and  became  incapable  of  escaping  by  their  own 
efforts. 

Second,  that  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 
Christ,  His  only  begotten  Son,  for  its  redemption  and 
to  establish  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Thus  death  will 
finally  be  swallowed  up  in  immortality. 

This  simple  creed  has  provoked  the  smiles  of 
atheists,  and  of  the  purely  intellectual  who  have 
studied  transcendental  philosophies  with  their  niceties 
of  logic  and  argument ;  and  even  of  some  among  those 
who  study  the  Western  Mystery  Teaching. 

Such  an  attitude  of  mind  is  entirely  gratuitous. 
We  might  know  that  the  divine  leaders  of  mankind 
would  not  allow  millions  to  continue  in  error  for  mil- 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  MARRIAGE  47 

lennia.  When  the  Western  Mystery  Teaching  is 
stripped  of  its  exceedingly  illuminating  explanations 
and  detailed  descriptions,  when  its  basic  teachings  are 
stated,  they  are  found  to  be  in  exact  agreement  with 
the  orthodox  Christian  teachings. 

There  was  a  time  when  mankind  lived  in  a  sinless 
state;  when  sorrow,  pain,  and  death  were  unknown. 
Neither  is  the  personal  tempter  of  Christianity  a  myth, 
for  the  Lucifer  spirits  may  very  well  be  said  to  be 
fallen  uiigds,  and  their  temptation  of  man  resulted 
in  focusing  his  consciousness  upon  the  material  phase 
of  existence  where  he  is  under  the  law  of  decrepitude 
and  death.  Also  it  is  truly  the  mission  of  Christ  to  aid 
mankind  by  elevating  them  to  a  more  ethereal  state 
where  dissolution  will  no  longer  be  necessary  to  free 
them  from  vehicles  that  have  grown  too  hard  and  set 
for  further  use.  For  this  is  indeed  a  "body  of  death," 
where  only  the  smallest  quantity  of  material  is  really 
alive,  as  part  of  its  bulk  is  nutrient  matter  that  has 
not  yet  been  assimilated,  another  large  part  is  already 
on  its  way  to  elimination,  and  only  between  these  two 
poles  may  be  found  the  material  which  is  thoroughly 
quickened  by  the  spirit. 

We  have  in  other  chapters  considered  the  sacra- 
ments of  baptism  and  communion,  sacraments  that 
have  to  do  particularly  with  the  spirit.  We  will  now 
seek  to  understand  the  deeper  side  of  the  sacrament 
of  marriage,  which  has  to  do  particularly  with  the 
body.  Like  the  other  sacraments  the  institution  of 


48  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

marriage  had  its  beginning  and  will  also  have  its  end. 
The  commencement  was  described  by  the  Christ  when 
He  said,  * '  Have  ye  not  read  that  He  which  made  them 
at  the  beginning  made  them  male  and  female,  and 
said:  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father 
and  mother  and  cleave  to  his  wife;  and  they 
twain  shall  be  one  flesh?  Wherefore  they  are  no 
more  twain,  but  one  flesh."  Matt.  19:4-6.  He  also 
indicated  the  end  of  marriage  when  he  said :  "  In  the 
resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  mar- 
riage, but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven."  Matt. 
22 :30. 

In  this  light  the  logic  of  the  teaching  is  apparent, 
for  marriage  became  necessary  in  order  that  birth 
might  provide  new  instruments  to  take  the  place  of 
those  which  had  been  ruptured  by  death;  and  when 
death  has  once  been  swallowed  up  in  immortality  and 
there  is  no  need  of  providing  new  instruments,  mar- 
riage also  will  be  unnecessary. 

Science  with  admirable  audacity  has  sought  to  solve 
the  mystery  of  fecundation,  and  has  told  us  how 
invagination  takes  place  in  the  walls  of  the  ovary: 
how  the  little  ovum  is  formed  in  the  seclusion  of  its 
dark  cavity;  how  it  emerges  thereform  and  enters  the 
Fallopian  tube ;  is  pierced  by  the  spermatozoon  of  the 
male,  and  the  nucleus  of  a  human  body  is  complete. 
We  are  thus  supposed  to  be  * '  at  the  fount  and  origin 
of  life ! ' '  But  life  has  neither  beginning  nor  end,  and 
what  science  mistakenly  considers  the  fountain  of  lifa 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  MARRIAGE  49 

is  really  the  source  of  death,  as  all  that  comes  from 
the  womb  is  destined  sooner  or  later  to  reach  the  tomb. 
The  marriage  feast  which  prepares  for  'birth,  at  the 
same  time  provides  food  for  the  insatiable  jaws  of 
death,  and  so  long  as  marriage  is  necessary  to  genera- 
tion and  birth,  disintegration  and  death  must  inev- 
itably result.  Therefore  it  is  of  prime  importance  to 
know  the  history  of  marriage,  the  laws  and  agencies 
involved,  the  duration  of  this  institution,  and  how  it 
may  be  transcended. 

When  we  obtained  our  vital  bodies  in  Hyperborea, 
the  sun,  moon,  and  earth  were  still  united,  and  the 
solar-lunar  forces  permeated  each  being  in  even  meas- 
ure so  that  all  were  able  to  perpetuate  their  kind  by 
buds  and  spores  as  do  certain  plants  of  today.  The 
efforts  of  the  vital  body  to  soften  the  dense  vehicle 
and  keep  it  alive  were  not  then  interfered  with,  and 
these  primal,  plantlike  bodies  lived  for  ages.  But  man 
was  then  unconscious  and  stationary  like  a  plant ;  he 
made  no  effort  or  exertion.  The  addition  of  a  desire 
body  furnished  incentive  and  desire,  and  conscious- 
ness resulted  from  the  war  between  the  vital  body, 
which  builds^  and  the  desire  body,  which  destroys  the 
dense  body. 

Thus  dissolution  became  only  a  question  of  time, 
particularly  as  the  constructive  energy  of  the  vital 
body  was  also  necessarily  divided,  one  part  or  pole 
being  used  in  the  vital  functions  of  the  body,  the  other 
to  replace  a  vehicle  lost  by  death.  But  as  the  two 


50  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

poles  of  a  magnet  or  dynamo  are  requisite  to  mani- 
festation, so  also  two  single-sexed  beings  became  neces- 
sary for  generation;  thus  marriage  and  birth,  were 
necessarily  inaugurated  to  offset  the  effect  of  death. 
Death,  then,  is  the  price  we  pay  for  consciousness  in 
the  present  world;  marriage  and  repeated  births  are 
our  weapons  against  the  king  of  terrors  until  our 
constitution  shall  change  and  we  become  as  angels. 

Please  mark  that  it  is  not  stated  that  we  are  to  be- 
come angels,  but  that  we  are  to  become  as  angels.  For 
the  angels  are  the  humanity  of  the  Moon  Period ;  they 
belong  to  an  entirely  different  stream  of  evolution,  as 
different  as  are  human  spirits  from  those  of  our  pres- 
ent animals.  Paul  states  in  his  letter  to  the  Hebrews 
that  man  was  made  for  a  little  while  inferior  to  the 
angels;  he  descended  lower  into  the  scale  of  mate- 
riality during  the  Earth  Period,  while  the  angels  have 
never  inhabited  a  globe  denser  than  ether.  As  we 
build  our  bodies  from  the  chemical  constituents  of  the 
earth,  so  do  the  angels  build  theirs  of  ether.  This  sub- 
stance is  the  direct  avenue  of  all  life  forces,  and  when 
man  has  once  become  as  the  angels  and  has  learned  to 
build  his  body  of  ether,  naturally  there  will  be  no 
death  and  no  need  of  marriage  to  bring  about  birth. 

But  looking  at  marriage  from  another  point  of 
view,  looking  upon  it  as  a  union  of  souls  rather  than 
as  a  union  of  the  sexes,  we  contact  the  wonderful  mys- 
tery of  Love.  Union  of  the  sexes  might  serve  to  per- 
petuate the  race,  of  course,  but  the  true  marriage  is  a 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  MARRIAGE  51 

companionship  of  souls  also,  which  altogether  trans- 
cends sex.  Yet  those  really  able  to  meet  upon  that 
lofty  plane  of  spiritual  intimacy  gladly  offer  their 
bodies  as  living  sacrifices  upon  the  altar  of  Love  of 
the  Unborn,  to  woo  a  waiting  spirit  into  an  immacu- 
lately conceived  body.  Thus  humanity  may  be  saved 
from  the  reign  of  death. 

This  is  readily  apparent  as  soon  as  we  consider  the 
gentle  action  of  the  vital  body  and  contrast  it  with 
that  of  the  desire  body  in  a  fit  of  temper,  where  it  is 
said  that  a  man  has  "lost  control"  of  himself.  Under 
such  conditions  the  muscles  become  tense,  and  nervous 
energy  is  expended  at  a  suicidal  rate,  so  that  after 
such  an  outbreak  the  body  may  sometimes  be  pros- 
trated for  weeks.  The  hardest  labor  brings  no  such 
fatigue  as  a  fit  of  temper;  likewise  a  child  conceived 
in  passion  under  the  crystallizing  tendencies  of  the 
desire  nature  is  naturally  short-lived,  and  it  is  a  re- 
grettable fact  that  length  of  life  is  nowadays  almost  a 
misnomer;  in  view  of  the  appalling  infant  mortality 
it  ought  to  be  called  brevity  of  existence. 

The  building  tendencies  of  the  vital  body,  which  is 
the  vehicle  of  love,  are  not  so  easily  watched,  but  ob- 
servation proves  that  contentment  lengthens  the  life 
of  any  one  who  cultivates  this  quality,  and  we  may 
safely  reason  that  a  child  conceived  under  conditions 
of  harmony  and  love  stands  a  better  chance  of  life 
than  one  conceived  under  conditions  of  anger,  inebri- 
ety, and  passion. 


52  GLEANINGS  OP  A  MYSTIC 

According  to  Genesis  it  was  said  to  the  woman, 
"In  sorrow  shalt  thou  bear  children,"  and  it  has  al- 
ways been  a  sore  puzzle  to  Bible  commentators  what 
logical  connection  there  may  be  between  the  eating  of 
fruit  and  the  pains  of  parturition.  But  when  we 
understand  the  chaste  references  of  the  Bible  to  the 
act  of  generation,  the  connection  is  readily  perceived. 
While  the  insensitive  Negro  or  Indian  mother  may 
bear  her  child  and  shortly  afterward  resume  her 
labors  in  the  field,  the  western  woman,  more  acutely 
sensitive  and  of  high-strung  nervous  temperament,  is 
year  by  year  finding  it  more  difficult  to  go  through 
the  ordeal  of  motherhood,  though  aided  by  the  best 
and  most  skilled  scientific  help. 

The  contributory  reasons  are  various :  In  the  first 
place,  while  we  are  exceedingly  careful  in  selecting 
our  horses  and  cattle  for  breeding,  while  we  insist 
upon  pedigree  for  the  animals  in  order  that  we  may 
bring  out  the  very  best  strain  of  stock  upon  our  farms, 
we  exercise  no  such  care  with  respect  to  the  selection 
of  a  father  or  mother  for  our  children.  "We  mate  upon 
impulse  and  regret  it  at  our  leisure,  aided  by  laws 
which  make  it  all  too  easy  to  enter  or  leave  the  sacred 
bonds  of  matrimony.  The  words  pronounced  by  min- 
ister or  judge  are  taken  to  be  a  license  for  unlimited 
indulgence,  as  if  any  man-made  law  could  license  the 
contravention  of  the  law  of  God.  While  animals  mate 
only  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year  and  the  mother  is 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  MARRIAGE  53 

undisturbed  during  the  period  of  pregnancy,  this  is 
not  true  of  the  human  race. 

In  view  of  these  facts  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that 
we  find  such  a  dread  of  maternity,  and  is  it  not  time 
that  we  seek  to  remedy  the  matter  by  a  more  sane  rela- 
tion between  marriage  partners  ?  Astrology  will  reveal 
the  temper  and  tendencies  of  each  human  being;  it 
will  enable  two  people  to  blend  their  characters  in 
such  a  manner  that  a  love  life  may  be  lived,  and  it 
will  indicate  the  periods  when  interplanetary  lines  of 
force  are  most  nearly  conducive  to  painless  parturi- 
tion. Thus  it  will  enable  us  to  draw  from  the  bosom 
of  nature,  children  of  love,  capable  of  living  long  lives 
in  good  health.  Finally  the  day  will  come  when  these 
bodies  will  have  been  made  so  perfect  in  their  ethereal 
purity  that  they  may  last  throughout  the  coming  Age, 
and  thus  make  marriage  superfluous. 

But  if  we  can  love  now  when  we  see  one  another 
''through  a  glass  darkly,"  through  the  mask  of  per- 
sonality and  the  veil  of  misunderstanding,  we  may 
be  sure  that  the  love  of  soul  for  soul,  purged  of  pas- 
sion in  the  furnace  of  sorrow,  will  be  our  brightest 
gem  in  heaven  as  its  shadow  is  on  earth. 


Chapter  VII 
THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN  AND  LOST  SOULS 

SOME  OF  OUR  students  have  been  exercised  about 
the  unpardonable  sin,  and  as  this  subject  has  a 
certain  connection  with  the  subject  of  marriage,  one 
being  a  sacrilege  and  the  other  a  sacrament,  it  might 
be  well  to  elucidate  the  matter  from  a  different  point 
of  view  than  has  been  formerly  taken  in  our  litera- 
ture. 

First  let  us  see  what  is  meant  by  a  sacrament,  and 
why  the  rites  of  baptism,  communion,  marriage,  and 
extreme  unction  are  properly  so  called ;  then  we  shall 
be  in  a  position  to  understand  what  sacrilege  is  and 
why  it  is  unpardonable. 

The  Rosicrucians  teach,  only  with  more  detail,  the 
same  doctrine  that  Paul  preached  in  the  15th  chapter 
of  1st  Corinthians,  starting  at  the  thirty-fifth  verse, 
that  in  addition  to  the  body  of  flesh  and  blood  we 
have  a  soul  body,  soma  psiichicon,  (mistranslated 
"natural"  body),  and  a  spiritual  body;  that  each  of 
these  bodies  is  grown  from  a  different  seed  atom  and 
that  there  are  three  stages  of  unfoldment  for  Adam, 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN  55 

or  man.  The  first  Adam  was  taken  from  the  ground 
and  was  without  sentient  life.  Soul  was  added  to  the 
second  Adam ;  thus  he  had  life  within,  a  leaven  labor- 
ing to  elevate  the  clod  to  God.  "When  the  potential  of 
the  soul  extracted  from  the  physical  body  has  been 
raised  to  the  spiritual,  the  last  Adam  will  become  a 
life  giving  spirit,  capable  of  transmitting  the  life  im- 
pulse to  others  directly  as  flame  from  one  candle  can 
be  communicated  to  many  without  diminishing  the 
magnitude  of  the  original  light. 

In  the  meantime  the  germ  for  our  earthy  body  had 
to  be  properly  placed  in  fruitful  soil  to  grow  a  suit- 
able vehicle,  and  generative  organs  were  provided 
from  the  beginning  to  accomplish  this  purpose.  It  is 
stated  in  Genesis  1 :27,  that  Elohim  created  them  male 
and  female.  The  Hebrew  words  are  "sacre  va 
n'cabah."  These  are  names  of  the  sex  organs.  Liter- 
ally translated,  sacr  means  "bearer  of  the  germ. "  Thus 
marriage  is  a  sacr-ament,  for  it  opens  the  way  for 
transmission  of  a  physical  seed  atom  from  the  father 
to  the  mother,  and  tends  to  preserve  the  race  against 
the  ravages  of  death.  Baptism  as  a  /Sacrament  signi- 
fies the  germinal  urge  of  the  soul  for  the  higher  life. 
Holy  Communion,  in  which  we  partake  of  bread 
(made  from  the  seed  of  chaste  plants),  and  of  wine 
(the  cup  symbolizing  the  passionless  seed-pod),  points 
to  the  age  to  come,  an  age  wherein  it  will  be  unneces- 
sary to  transmit  the  seed  through  a  father  and  mother, 
but  where  we  may  feed  directly  upon  cosmic  life  and 


56  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

thus  conquer  death.  Finally,  extreme  unction  is  the 
sacrament  which  marks  the  loosening  of  the  silver 
cord,  and  the  extraction  of  the  sacred  germ,  freeing 
it  until  it  shall  again  be  planted  in  another  n'cabah, 
or  mother. 

As  the  seed  and  ovum  are  the  root  and  basis  of 
racial  development,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  no  sin  can  be 
more  serious  than  that  which  abuses  the  creative 
function,  for  by  that  sacr-ilege  we  stunt  future  genera- 
tions and  transgress  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  Jehovah, 
who  is  warder  of  the  creative  lunar  forces.  His  angels 
herald  births,  as  in  the  cases  of  Isaac,  John  the  Bap- 
tist, and  Jesus.  When  he  wanted  to  reward  his  most 
faithful  follower,  he  promised  to  make  his  seed  as 
numerous  as  the  sands  on  the  seashore.  He  also 
meted  out  a  most  terrible  punishment  to  the  Sodom- 
ites who  committed  sacr-ilege  by  misdirecting  the 
seed.  He  even  visits  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children  to  the  third  and  fourth  generations,  for 
under  his  regime  Law  reigns  supreme.  Man  has  not 
yet  evolved  to  the  point  where  he  can  respond  to  love. 
He  requires  from  his  enemies  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and 
with  the  same  measure  that  he  metes,  it  is  meted  unto 
him. 

Though  this  seems  very  cruel  to  us  who  are  each 
day  evolving  more  and  more  the  faculties  of  love  and 
mercy,  we  must  remember  that  this  retributive  jus- 
tice relates  purely  to  the  physical  bod}r,  which  is 
under  the  laws  of  Nature  just  as  much  as  any  other 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN  57 

chemical  composition  in  the  universe.  When  abuses 
have  weakened  it,  it  is  incapable  of  fulfilling  its  mis- 
sion and  meeting  our  demands  in  any  respect,  just  as 
is  the  case  with  any  other  machinery  which  we  have 
made  from  the  materials  around  us.  There  are  no 
miracles  such  as  would  be  required  to  generate  a 
sound  and  healthy  body  from  parents  who  have  trans- 
gressed the  laws  of  nature  by  their  abuses ;  therefore 
that  sin  cannot  be  remitted  but  must  be  expiated; 
but  when  time  and  care  have  restored  the  necessary 
strength  and  vigor,  the  body  will  again  perform  its 
functions  in  a  normal  and  healthy  manner. 

Thus  we  understand  that  under  the  law  there  is  no 
mercy,  for  mercy  is  dictated  by  love.  Therefore  it 
was  perfectly  in  consonance  with  cosmic  order  when 
Christ,  the  Lord  of  Love,  said  that  all  things  would 
be  forgiven  to  men  which  they  did  against  Him,  as 
love  is  the  reigning  feature  in  His  kingdom ;  but  what- 
soever was  done  contrary  to  the  law  of  Jehovah  must 
meet  its  full  retribution.  "We  cannot  be  sufficiently 
thankful  for  the  wonderful  religion  which  He  gave 
us,  particularly  if  we  compare  it  with  those  under 
which  less  evolved  peoples  are  now  struggling.  Take 
the  Buddhists,  for  instance:  grand  and  beautiful 
though  their  leader  was,  he  saw  only  sorrow,  a  con- 
stant struggle  against  the  laws  of  nature.  He  aimed 
to  teach  his  followers  to  transcend  that  condition  by 
perfect  obedience  such  as  that  whereby  we  have  con- 
quered the  laws  of  electricity  and  other  forces  in 


58  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

nature.  The  Buddhist  sees  nothing  but  the  cold  and 
merciless  law;  on  the  other  hand,  we  of  the  Western 
World  have  before  our  eyes  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave  a  beautiful  picture  of  One  who  said,  "Come 
unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest." 

But  it  may  be  asked,  "What  about  lost  souls;  are 
they  a  figment  of  the  imagination  also  ? "  To  this  ques- 
tion may  be  answered,  "yes,"  although  it  needs  some 
qualification.  We  shall  best  understand  the  case  if 
we  go  back  into  the  history  of  mankind  and  view  the 
experiences  of  some  who  have  transgressed,  for  they 
will  furnish  us  an  example  of  what  may  happen.  In 
order  to  establish  the  point  properly  we  shall  reiterate 
a  few  of  the  Rosicrucian  teachings  regarding  the 
genesis  of  the  earth  and  of  man  upon  it.  Three  great 
stages  of  unfoldment  have  preceded  the  present  Earth 
Period.  The  Father  is  the  highest  Initiate  of  the  Sat- 
urn Period,  inhabiting  particularly  the  Spiritual  Sun. 
The  Son,  the  cosmic  Christ,  is  the  highest  Initiate  of 
the  Sun  Period,  inhabiting  the  Central  Sun  and  guid- 
ing the  planets  in  their  orbits  by  a  ray  from  Himself, 
which  becomes  the  indwelling  spirit  of  each  planet 
when  it  has  been  sufficiently  ripened  to  contain  such 
a  great  Intelligence.  Jehovah,  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  the 
highest  Initiate  of  the  Moon  Period  and  dwelling  in 
the  physical,  visible  sun.  He  is  regent  of  the  various 
moons  thrown  off  by  the  different  planets  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  beings  who  have  fallen  behind  in 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN  59 

the  march  of  evolution  more  rigid  discipline  under  a 
firmer  law,  to  awaken  them  and  spur  them  on  in  the 
proper  direction  if  possible. 

When  we  look  into  space,  we  perceive  that  some 
planets  have  a  number  of  moons  and  others  have  none ; 
but  as  there  are  laggards  in  any  large  company,  and 
as  moons  are  required  to  aid  these  stragglers  to  re- 
trieve their  lost  estate  if  possible,  we  may  be  sure  that 
these  planets  which  have  no  moons  now  have  had 
them  in  the  past.  Those  Great  Beings  of  whom  the 
Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Conception  speaks  as  "Lords  of 
Venus"  and  "Lords  of  Mercury"  were,  in  fact, 
stragglers  from  those  two  planets.  In  the  dim  dis- 
tant past  they  inhabited  moons  which  encircled  their 
respective  planets,  and  were  successful  in  retrieving 
their  loss  in  a  large  measure  under  the  discipline 
given  them  there.  Later  they  received  the  oppor- 
tunity to  serve  the  humanity  of  our  earth,  and  by  than 
service  to  secure  a  return  to  the  home  planet  whence 
they  had  been  exiled.  They  were  lost  under  the  l^w, 
but  redeemed  ~by  love;  and  thus  we  may  infer  that 
opportunities  for  service  will  also  bring  to  other  be- 
ings, who  may  become  "lost,"  the  opportunity  to  re- 
trieve the  past. 

Since  it  may  puzzle  the  student  as  to  what  becomes 
of  the  moons  upon  which  such  beings  dwell  for  a  time, 
we  may  say  that  the  solar  system  is  to  be  regarded  as 
the  body  of  the  Great  Spirit  whom  we  call  God,  and  as 
any  growth  caused  by  an  abnormal  process  paiius  us 


60  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

when  it  occurs  in  our  body,  so  also  such  crystallizations 
as  moons  are  sources  of  discomfort  to  that  Great  Be- 
ing. Furthermore,  as  our  own  systems  endeavor  to 
eliminate  such  abnormalities  as  growths,  so  also  the 
universe  endeavors  to  expel  moons  which  have  served 
their  purpose.  While  the  beings  who  have  been 
exiled  to  a  moon  are  there,  the  Planetary  Spirit  of  the 
primary  planet  by  his  care  for  these  beings,  holds  tho 
moon  in  its  orbit,  and  we  speak  of  his  love  for  them 
as  the  Law  of  Attraction;  but  when  they  have  re- 
turned to  the  parent  planet,  the  Planetary  Spirit  has 
no  further  interest  in  their  cinder-like  habitation. 
Then  slowly  the  orbit  of  the  vacated  moon  widen.?,  it 
commences  to  disintegrate,  and  it  is  finally  expelled 
into  interstellar  space.  The  asteroids  are  remnants 
of  moons  which  once  encircled  Venus  and  Mercury. 
There  are  also  other  seeming  moons  and  lunar  frag- 
ments in  our  solar  system,  but  the  Rosicrucian  Cosmo- 
Conception  does  not  concern  itself  with  them  as  they 
are  outside  the  pale  of  evolution. 


61 


Chapter  VIII 
THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

THE  PERIODICAL  ebb  and  flow  of  the  material 
and  spiritual  forces  which  invest  the  earth  are 
the  invisible  causes  of  the  physical,  moral,  and  mental 
activities  upon  our  globe. 

According  to  the  hermetic  axiom,  "As  above  so 
below,"  a  similar  activity  must  take  place  in  man, 
who  is  but  a  minor  edition  of  Mother  Nature. 

The  animals  have  twenty-eight  pairs  of  spinal 
nerves  and  are  now  in  their  Moon  stage,  perfectly  at- 
tuned to  the  twenty-eight  days  in  which  the  moon 
passes  around  the  zodiac.  In  their  wild  state  the  group 
spirit  regulates  their  mating.  Therefore  there  is  no 
overflow  with  them.  Man,  on  the  other  hand,  is  in  a 
transition  stage ;  he  is  too  far  progressed  for  the  lunar 
vibrations  for  he  has  thirty-one  pairs  of  spinal  nerves. 
But  he  is  not  yet  attuned  to  the  solar  month  of  thirty- 
one  days,  and  he  mates  at  all  times  of  the  year ;  hence 
the  periodical  flow  in  woman,  which  under  proper 
conditions  is  utilized  to  form'  part  of  the  body  of  a 
child  more  perfect  than  its  parent.  Similarly,  the 


62  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

periodical  flow  in  mankind  becomes  the  sinew  and 
backbone  of  racial  advancement;  and  the  periodical 
flow  of  the  earth's  spiritual  forces,  which  occurs  at 
Christmas,  results  in  the  birth  of  Saviors  who  from 
time  to  time  give  renewed  impetus  to  the  spiritual 
advancement  of  the  human  race. 

There  are  two  parts  to  our  Bible,  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testaments.  After  briefly  reciting  how  the 
world  came  into  being,  the  former  tells  the  story  of  the 
"Fall."  In  view  of  what  has  been  written  in  our 
literature  we  understand  the  Fall  to  have  been  oc- 
casioned by  man's  impulsive  and  ignorant  use  of  the 
sex  forces  at  times  when  the  interplanetary  rays  were 
inimical  to  conception  of  the  purest  and  best  vehicles. 
Thus  man  became  gradually  imprisoned  in  a  dense 
body  crystallized  by  sinful  passion  and  consequently 
an  imperfect  vehicle,  subject  to  pain  and  death. 

Then  commenced  the  pilgrimage  through  matter, 
fl,nd  for  millennia  we  have  been  living  in  this  hard 
and  flinty  shell  of  body,  which  obscures  the  light  of 
heaven  from  the  spirit  within.  The  spirit  is  like  a 
diamond  in  its  rough  coat,  and  the  celestial  lapidaries, 
the  Recording  Angels,  are  constantly  endeavoring  to 
remove  the  coating  so  that  the  spirit  may  shine 
through  the  vehicle  which  it  ensouls. 

When  the  lapidary  holds  the  diamond  to  the  grind- 
stone, the  diamond  emits  a  screech  like  a  cry  of  pain 
as  the  opaque  covering  is  removed;  but  gradually  by 
many  successive  applications  to  the  grindstone  the 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION  63 

rough  diamond  may  become  a  gem  of  transcendent 
beauty  and  purity.  Similarly,  the  celestial  beings  in 
charge  of  our  evolution  hold  us  closely  to  the  grind- 
stone of  experience.  Pain  and  suffering  result,  which 
awaken  the  spirit  sleeping  within.  The  man  hitherto 
content  with  material  pursuits,  indulgent  of  sense  and 
sex,  becomes  imbued  with  a  divine  discontent  which 
impels  him  to  seek  the  higher  life. 

The  gratification  of  that  aspiration,  however,  is 
not  usually  accomplished  without  a  seveiv  struggle 
upon  the  part  of  the  lower  nature.  It  was  while 
wrestling  thus  that  Paul  exclaimed  with  all  th'3 
anguish  of  a  devout,  aspiring  heart:  "Oh  wretched 
man  that  I  am  *  *  *  The  good  that  I  would, 
I  do  not;  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  do 

*  *  *  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  in- 
ward man;  but  I  see  another  law  in  my  members  war- 
ring against  the  law  of  my  mind  and  bringing  it  into 
captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members." 
(Rom.  7:19-24.) 

When  the  flower  is  crushed,  its  scent  is  liberated 
and  fills  the  surroundings  with  grateful  fragrance,  de- 
lighting all  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  be  near. 
Crushing  blows  of  fate  may  overwhelm  a  man  or 
woman  who  has  reached  the  stage  of  efflorescence; 
they  will  but  serve  to  bring  out  the  sweetness  of  the 
nature  and  enhance  the  beauty  of  the  soul  till  it  shines 
with  an  effulgence  that  marks  the  wearer  as  with  a 
halo.  Then  he  is  upon  the  path  of  Initiation.  He  is 


64  GLEANINGS  OP  A  MYSTIC 

taught  how  unbridled  use  of  sex  regardless  of  the 
stellar  rays  has  imprisoned  him  in  the  body,  how  it 
fetters  him,  and  how  by  the  proper  use  of  that  same 
force  in  harmony  with  the  stars  he  may  gradually  im- 
prove and  etherealize  his  body  and  finally  attain 
liberation  from  concrete  existence. 

A  shipwright  cannot  build  a  staunch  oak  ship  from 
spruce  lumber ; ' 'men  do  not  gather  grapes  of  thorns ; ' ' 
like  always  begets  like,  and  an  incoming  ego  of  a  pas- 
sionate nature  is  drawn  to  parents  of  like  nature, 
where  its  body  is  conceived  upon  the  impulse  of  the 
moment  in  a  gust  of  passion. 

The  soul  who  has  tasted  the  cup  of  sorrow  incident 
to  the  abuse  of  the  creative  force  and  has  drunk  to 
the  dregs  the  bitterness  thereof,  will  gradually  seek 
parents  of  less  and  less  passionate  natures,  until  ac 
length  it  attains  to  Initiation. 

Having  been  taught  in  the  process  of  Initiation  the 
influence  of  the  stellar  rays  upon  parturition,  the 
next  body  provided  will  be  generated  by  Initiate  par- 
ents without  passion,  under  the  constellation  most 
favorable  to  the  work  which  the  ego  contemplates. 
Therefore  the  Gospels  (which  are  formulae  of  Initia- 
tion) commence  with  the  account  of  the  immaculate 
conception  and  end  with  the  crucifixion,  both  won- 
derful ideals  to  which  we  must  some  time  attain,  for 
each  of  us  is  a  Christ-in-the-making,  and  will  some- 
time pass  through  both  the  mystic  birth  and  the  mys- 
tic death  adumbrated  in  the  Gospels.  By  knowledge 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION  65 

we  may  hasten  the  day,  intelligently  co-operating  in- 
stead of  as  now  often  stupidly  frustrating  through 
ignorance  the  ends  of  spiritual  development. 

In  connection  with  the  immaculate  conception  mis- 
understandings prevail  at  every  point ;  the  perpefual 
virginity  of  the  mother  even  after  giving  birth  to 
other  children;  the  lowly  station  of  Joseph,  the  sup- 
posed foster-father,  etc.  We  will  briefly  view  them  in 
the  light  of  facts  as  revealed  in  the  Memory  of  Nature : 

In  some  parts  of  Europe  people  of  the  higher  classes 
are  addressed  as  ''wellborn,"  or  even  as  "highwell- 
born,"  meaning  that  they  are  the  offspring  of  cul- 
tured parents  in  high  station.  Such  people  usually 
look  down  with  scorn  upon  those  in  modest  positions. 
We  have  nothing  against  the  expression  "wellborn;" 
we  would  that  every  child  were  well  born,  born  to 
parents  of  high  moral  standing  no  matter  what  their 
station  in  life.  There  is  a  virginity  of  soul  that  is  in- 
dependent of  the  state  of  the  body,  a  purity  of  mind 
which  will  carry  its  possessor  through  the  act  of  gen- 
eration without  the  taint  of  passion  and  enable  the 
mother  to  carry  the  unborn  child  under  her  heart  in 
sexless  love. 

Previous  to  the  time  of  Christ  that  would  have 
been  impossible.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  man 's  career 
upon  earth  quantity  was  desirable  and  quality  a  minor 
consideration,  hence  the  command  was  given  to  "go 
forth,  be  fruitful,  and  multiply."  Besides,  it  was 
necessary  that  man  should  temporarily  forget  hii 

5 


66  GLEANINGS  OP  A  MYSTIC 

spiritual  nature  and  concentrate  his  energies  upon 
material  conditions.  Indulgence  of  the  sex  passion 
furthers  that  object,  and  the  desire  nature  was  given 
full  sway.  Polygamy  flourished,  and  the  larger  the 
number  of  their  children,  the  more  a  man  and  a 
woman  were  honored,  while  barrenness  was  looked 
upon  as  the  greatest  possible  affliction. 

In  other  directions  the  desire  nature  was  being; 
curbed  by  God-given  laws,  and  obedience  to  divine 
commands  was  enforced  by  swift  punishment  of  the 
transgressor,  such  as  war,  pestilence  or  famine.  Re- 
wards for  dutiful  observance  of  the  mandates  of  the 
law  were  not  wanting  either;  the  " righteous"  man's 
children,  his  cattle  and  crops  were  numerous;  he  was 
victorious  over  his  enemies  and  the  cup  of  his  happi- 
ness was  full. 

Later  when  the  earth  had  been  sufficiently  peopled 
after  the  Atlantean  Flood,  polygamy  became  gradu- 
ally more  and  more  obsolete,  with  the  result  that  the 
quality  of  the  bodies  improved,  and  at  the  time  of 
Christ  the  desire  nature  had  become  so  far  amenable 
to  control  in  the  case  of  the  more  advanced  among 
humanity  that  the  act  of  generation  could  be  per- 
formed without  passion,  out  of  pure  love,  so  that  the 
child  could  be  immaculately  conceived. 

Such  were  the  parents  of  Jesus.  Joseph  is  said  to 
have  been  a  carpenter,  but  he  was  not  a  worker  in 
wood.  He  was  a  "builder"  in  a  higher  sense.  God  is 
the  Grand  Architect  of  the  universe.  Under  Him  are 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION  57 

many  builders  of  varying  degrees  of  spiritual  splendor, 
down  even  to  those  whom  we  know  as  Freemasons.  All 
are  engaged  in  building  a  temple  without  sound  of 
hammer,  and  Joseph  was  no  exception. 

It  is  sometimes  asked  why  Initiates  are  always  men. 
They  are  not;  in,  the  lower  degrees  there  are  many 
women,  but  when  an  Initiate  is  able  to  choose  his  sex 
he  usually  takes  the  positive  masculine  body,  as  the  life 
which  brought  him  to  Initiation  has  spiritualized  his 
vital  body  and  made  it  positive  under  all  conditions, 
so  that  he  has  then  an  instrument  of  the  highest 
efficiency. 

There  are  times,  however,  when  the  exigencies  of  a 
case  require  a  female  body,  such  as,  for  instance,  pro- 
viding a  body  of  the  highest  type  to  receive  an  ego 
of  superlatively  high  degree.  Then  a  high  Initiate 
may  take  a  female  body  and  go  through  the  experience 
of  maternity  again,  after  perhaps  having  eschewed  it 
for  several  lives,  as  was  the  case  with  the  beautiful 
character  we  know  as  Mary  of  Bethlehem. 

In  conclusion,  then,  let  us  remember  the  points 
brought  out,  that  we  are  all  Christs-in-the-making;that 
sometime  we  must  cultivate  characters  so  spotless  that 
we  may  be  worthy  to  inhabit  bodies  that  are  immac- 
ulately conceived;  and  the  sooner  we  commence  to 
purify  our  minds  of  passionate  thoughts,  the  sooner 
we  shall  attain.  In  the  final  analysis  it  only  depends 
upon  the  earnestness  of  our  purpose,  the  strength  of 
our  wills.  Conditions  are  such  now  that  we  can  live 


68  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

pure  lives  whether  married  or  single,  and  cold,  sister- 
and-brother  relationships  are  not  necessary  either. 

Is  the  life  of  absolute  purity  beyond  some  of  us  yet! 
Be  not  discouraged;  Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day. 
Keep  on  aspiring  though  you  fail  again  and  again, 
for  the  only  real  failure  consists  in  ceasing  to  try. 

So  may  God  strengthen  your  aspirations  to  purity. 


69 


THE  COMING  CHRIST  '  ^ 

Chapter  IX 

WE  HAVE  previously  seen  how  infant  humanity 
in  Atlantis  lived  in  unity  under  direct  guid- 
ance of  divine  leaders,  and  how  they  were  eventually 
brought  out  of  the  water  into  a  clear  atmosphere 
where  the  separateness  of  each  individual  from  all 
others  became  obvious  at  once. 

"God  is  Light" — the  Light  which  became  life  in 
man.  It  was  dim  and  achromatically  diffused  in  the 
misty  atmosphere  of  early  Atlantis,  as  colorless  as  the 
air  on  a  densely  foggy  day  in  the  present  age,  hence 
the  unity  of  all  beings  who  lived  in  that  light.  But 
when  man  rose  above  the  waters,  when  he  emerged 
into  the  air  where  the  godly  manifestation,  Light,  was 
refracted  in  multitudinous  hues,  this  variously  colored 
light  was  differently  absorbed  by  each.  Thus  diversity 
was  inaugurated,  when  mankind  went  through  the 
mighty  arch  of  the  rainbow  with  its  variegated  and 
beautiful  colors.  That  bow  may  therefore  be  con- 
sidered an  entrance  gate  to  "the  promised  land,"  the 
world  as  now  constituted.  Here  the  light  of  God  is 


70  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

no  longer  an  insipid  single  tint  as  in  early  Atlantis. 
The  present  dazzling  play  of  color  tells  us  that  the 
watchword  of  the  present  age  is  segregation,  and 
therefore  so  long  as  we  remain  in  the  present  condi- 
tion under  the  law  of  alternating  cycles,  where  sum- 
mer and  winter,  ebb  and  flow,  succeed  each  other  in 
unbroken  sequence,  so  long  as  God's  bow  stands  in 
the  sky,  an  emblem  of  diversity,  it  is  yet  the  day  of 
the  kingdoms  of  men,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
held  in  abeyance. 

Nevertheless,  as  surely  as  the  Edenic  conditions 
upon  the  fire  girt  islands  of  ancient  Lemuria  ended  in 
separation  into  sexes,  each  expressing  one  element  of 
the  creative  fire,  and  making  the  union  of  man  and 
woman  as  necessary  to  the  generation  of  a  body  as  is 
the  union  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen  to  the  production 
of  water ;  and  as  surely  as  emergence  from  the  watery 
atmosphere  of  Atlantis  into  the  airy  environment  of 
Aryana,  the  world  of  today,  promoted  further  segre- 
gation into  separate  nations  and  individuals,  who  war 
and  prey  upon  one  another  (because  the  sharply  dif- 
ferentiated forms  which  they  behold  blind  thorn  to  the 
inalienable  unity  of  each  soul  with  all  others)  ;  just 
as  certainly  will  this  world  condition  give  place  to  a 
"new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness. ' ' 

In  early  Atlantis  we  lived  in  the  deepest  basins  of 
the  earth  where  the  mist  was  densest ;  we  breathed  by 
means  of  gills  and  would  have  been  unable  to  live  in 


THE  COMING  CHRIST  71 

an  atmosphere  such  as  we  have  now.  In  the  course  of 
time  desire  to  explore  beyond  caused  the  invention  of 
airships,  which  were  propelled  by  the  expansive  force 
of  sprouting  grain.  The  "ark"  story  is  a  perverted 
remembrance  of  that  fact.  Those  ships  actually  did 
founder  upon  mountain  tops  where  the  atmopshere 
was  too  rare  to  sustain  them.  Today  our  ships  float 
upon  the  element  in  which  the  Atlantean  ships  were 
at  one  time  immersed.  "We  have  now  contrived  various 
means  of  propulsion  able  to  carry  us  over  the  high- 
lands of  the  earth  which  we  occupy  at  present,  and  are 
commencing  to  reach  out  into  the  atmosphere  to  con- 
quer that  element  as  we  have  subjected  the  waters; 
and  as  surely  as  our  Atlantean  ancestors  made  a  high- 
way of  the  watery  element  which  they  breathed  and 
then  rose  above  it  to  live  in  a  new  element,  just  as 
certainly  shall  we  conquer  the  air  and  then  rise  above 
it  into  the  newly  discovered  element  which  we  call 
ether. 

Thus  each  age  has  its  own  peculiar  conditions  and 
laws ;  the  beings  who  evolve  have  a  physiological  con- 
stitution suited  to  the  environment  of  that  age,  but 
are  dominated  by  the  nature  forces  then  prevailing 
until  they  learn  to  conform  to  them.  Then  these 
forces  become  most  valuable  servants,  as  for  instance, 
steam  and  electricity,  which  we  have  partially  har- 
nessed. The  law  of  gravity  still  holds  us  in  its  power- 
ful grip,  although  by  mechanical  means  we  are  trying 
to  escape  into  the  new  element.  "We  shall  at  a  not 


72  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

distant  time  attain  to  mastery  of  the  air,  but  as  the 
ships  of  the  Atlanteans  foundered  upon  the  moun- 
tains of  the  earth  because  their  buoyancy  was  insuf- 
ficient to  enable  them  to  rise  higher  in  the  light  mist 
of  those  altitudes,  and  because  respiration  was  dif- 
ficult, so  also  will  the  increasing  rarity  of  our  present 
atmosphere  prevent  us  from  entering  the  ' '  new  heaven 
and  the  new  earth,"  which  are  to  be  the  scene  of  the 
New  Dispensation. 

Before  we  can  reach  that  state,  physiological  as 
well  as  moral  and  spiritual  changes  must  take  place. 
The  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament  does  not  leave 
us  in  doubt  as  to  this,  though  lack  of  knowledge  of 
the  mystery  teachings  prevented  the  translators  from 
bringing  it  out  in  the  English  version.  Did  we  but 
believe  the  Bible  even  as  we  have  it,  we  should  be 
spared  many  delusions  and  much  uneasiness  concern- 
ing the  time  of  this.  Whole  sects  have  disposed  of 
their  belongings  in  anticipation  of  the  advent  of  Christ 
on  a  certain  day,  and  have  suffered  untold  privations 
afterwards.  Schemers  have  passed  themselves  off  as 
Christ  or  even  as  God,  have  married,  raised  families, 
and  died,  leaving  their  sons,  who  were  supposed  to  be 
Christs,  to  fight  for  the  kingdom.  A  temporal  govern- 
ment was  forced  to  banish  one  of  these  militant 
"Christs"  to  an  island  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
another  to  an  Asiatic  city  where  he  is  now  under  mili- 
tary supervision.  Nor  is  there  any  sign  that  the  fu- 


THE  COMING  CHRIST  73 

ture  will  lack  similar  claimants;  rather,  the  sacrile- 
gious imposture  is  spreading. 

We  may  rest  assured  that  the  divine  leaders  of 
evolution  made  no  mistake  when  they  gave  the  Chris- 
tian Religion  to  the  Western  World — the  most  ad- 
vanced teaching  to  the  most  precocious  among  man- 
kind. It  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  a  detriment 
when  an  organization  undertakes  to  graft  a  Hindu 
religion  (which  is  excellent  for  the  people  to  whom 
it  was  divinely  given)  upon  our  people.  The  imported 
Hindu  breathing  exercises  have  certainly  sent  many 
people  to  insane  asylums. 

If  we  believe  Christ's  words:  "My  kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world,"  (kosmos,  the  Greek  word  used  for 
"world"  meaning  "order  of  things"  rather  than  our 
planet,  the  earth,  which  is  called  gee,)  we  shall  know 
better  than  to  look  for  Christ  today. 

"Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God"  any  more  than  the  gill  breathing  creature  of 
early  Atlantean  times  was  fit  to  live  under  the  natural 
conditions  prevailing  in  the  present  age  where  "the 
kingdom  of  men"  exists.  Paul,  in  discussing  the 
resurrection,  does  not  say  as  in  the  English  translation, 
"There  is  a  natural  body  and  there  is  a  spiritual 
body."  I  Cor.  15:44.  He  affirms  that  there  is  a 
"soma  psuchicon,"  a  soul  body,  and  tells  in  the  pre- 
ceding verses  how  this  is  generated  from  a  "seed"  in 
the  same  way  as  explained  in  the  Rosicrucian  teach- 
ings. The  Bible  affirms  that  our  bodies  are  corrupt- 


74  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

ible.  (It  also  teaches  that  one  organ,  the  heart,  is  an 
exception.  This  has  reference  to  the  seed  atom  in  the 
heart.  Ps.  22:26.)  Therefore  our  bodies  must  be 
changed  before  Christ  can  come. 

If  these  things  were  believed,  few  would  run  after 
impostors,  and  the  latter  would  have  their  labors  for 
their  pains.  But  Western  papers  unfortunately  give 
notoriety  to  such  schemers,  though  regarding  them 
as  a  joke  as  well  they  may,  for  it  would  be  pre- 
posterous to  believe  that  the  great  and  wise  Being 
who  guides  evolution  could  be  so  shortsighted  as  not 
to  know  that  the  Western  World  would  never  accept 
the  scion  of  what  it  regards  as  a  semi-barbaric  race 
for  its  Savior. 

When  preparations  were  made  2000  years  ago,  for 
the  embodiment  of  the  Savior  of  the  world,  Galilee 
was  the  Mecca  for  roving  spirits.  Thither  flocked 
people  from  Asia,  Africa,  Greece,  Italy,  and  all  other 
parts  of  the  world  of  that  day.  Conditions  there  were 
exceptionally  congenial  and  attractive  so  that,  as  de- 
clared by  various  scholars  who  have  investigated  the 
matter,  Galilee  was  as  cosmopolitan  as  Rome  itself. 
It  was,  in  fact,  the  * '  melting  pot ' '  of  that  day.  Among 
others,  Joseph  and  Mary,  the  parents  of  Jesus,  had 
emigrated  from  Judea  to  Nazareth  in  Galilee  before 
the  advent  of  their  firstborn,  and  the  body  generated 
in  that  environment  was  different  from  the  ordinary 
Jewish  race  body. 

It  is  an  incontrovertible  fact  that  environment  plays 


THE  COMING  CHRIST  75 

a  great  part  in  evolution.  We  have  today  upon  earth 
three  great  races.  One,  the  Negro,  has  hair  which  is 
flat  in  section,  and  the  head  is  long,  narrow,  and 
flattened  on  the  sides.  The  orbit  of  the  eye  is  also 
long  and  narrow.  The  Negroes  are  descendants  of 
the  Lemurian  Race. 

The  Mongols  and  kindred  peoples  have  round  heads. 
Their  hair  is  round  in  section,  and  the  orbits  of  their 
eyes  are  also  round.  They  are  the  remnants  of  the 
Atlantean  Race. 

The  Aryan  Race  have  oval  hair,  oval  skulls,  and 
oval  orbits  of  the  eyes,  these  features  being  especially 
pronounced  in  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who  are  the  flower 
of  the  race  at  present. 

In  America,  the  Mecca  of  nations  today,  these 
various  races  are  of  course  represented.  Here  is  the 
' '  melting  pot ' '  in  which  they  are  being  amalgamated. 
It  has  been  ascertained  that  here  there  is  a  difference 
in  children  belonging  to  the  same  family.  The  skulls 
of  younger  children  born  in  America  are  more  nearly 
oval  than  the  heads  of  their  older  brothers  and  sisters 
born  abroad. 

From  this  fact  and  from  others  which  need  not  be 
mentioned  here,  it  is  evident  that  a  new  race  is  being 
born  on  the  American  continent;  and  reasoning  from 
the  known  fact  that  the  Christ  came  from  the  most 
cosmopolitan  part  of  the  civilized  world  of  2000 
years  ago,  it  would  be  but  logical  to  expect  that  if  a 
new  embodiment  were  sought  for  that  exalted  Being, 


76  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

His  body  would  more  likely  be  taken  from  the  new 
race  than  from  an  ancient  one.  Otherwise,  if 
there  is  virtue  in  obtaining  a  Savior  from  the  older 
races,  why  not  get  a  Bushman  or  a  Hottentot? 

But  we  may  be  sure  that  though  impostors  deceive 
for  a  time,  they  are  found  out  sooner  or  later,  and 
their  plans  come  to  naught.  Meanwhile,  progression 
continues  to  bring  us  nearer  the  Aquarian  Age,  and 
a  Teacher  is  coming  to  give  the  Christian  Religion 
impetus  in  a  new  direction. 


77 


Chapter  X 
THE  COMING  AGE 

WHEN  WE  speak  of  the  "Coming  Age/'  of  the 
"New  Heaven  and  the  New  Earth"  mentioned 
in  the  Bible,  and  also  of  the  "Aquarian  Age,"  the 
differences  may  not  be  quite  clear  in  the  minds  of 
our  students.  Confusion  of  terms  is  one  of  the  most 
fertile  seed  grounds  of  fallacy,  and  the  Rosicrucian 
teachings  aim  to  avoid  it  by  a  particularly  definite 
nomenclature.  Sometimes  an  extra  effort  seems  neces- 
sary to  disperse  the  haze  engendered  by  current 
cloudy  conceptions  of  others  as  sincere  as  the  present 
writer,  but  not  so  fortunate  in  having  access  to  the 
incomparable  Western  Wisdom  Teachings. 

It  has  been  taught  in  our  literature  that  four  great 
epochs  of  unfoldment  preceded  the  present  order  of 
things;  that  the  density  of  the  earth,  its  atmospheric 
conditions,  and  the  laws  of  nature  prevailing  in  one 
epoch  were  as  different  from  those  of  the  other  epochs 
as  was  the  corresponding  physiological  constitution 
of  mankind  in  one  epoch  different  from  those  in  Hie 
others. 


78  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

The  bodies  of  ADM  (the  name  means  red  earth), 
the  humanity  of  fiery  Lemuria,  were  formed  of  the 
"dust  of  the  ground,"  the  red,  hot,  volcanic  mud, 
and  were  just  suited  to  their  environment.  Flesh  and 
blood  would  have  shriveled  up  in  the  terrible  heat  of 
that  day,  and  though  suited  to  present  conditions, 
Paul  tells  us  that  they  cannot  inherit  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  It  is  therefore  manifest  that  before  a  new 
order  of  things  can  be  inaugurated,  the  physiological 
constitution  of  mankind  must  be  radically  changed,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  spiritual  attitude.  Aeons  will  be 
required  to  regenerate  the  whole  human  race  and  fit 
them  to  live  in  ethereal  bodies. 

On  the  other  hand,  neither  does  a  new  environment 
come  into  existence  in  a  moment,  but  land  and  people 
are  evolved  together  from  the  smallest  and  most  primi- 
tive beginnings.  "When  the  mists  of  Atlantis  com- 
menced to  settle,  some  of  our  forbears  had  grown 
embryonic  lungs  and  were  forced  to  the  highlands 
ages  before  their  compeers.  They  wandered  in  "the 
wilderness"  while  "the  promised  land"  was  emerg- 
ing from  the  lighter  fogs,  and  at  the  same  time  their 
growing  lungs  were  fitting  them  to  live  under  present 
atmospheric  conditions. 

Two  more  races  were  born  in  the  basins  of  the  earth 
before  a  succession  of  floods  drove  them  to  the  high- 
lands ;  the  last  flood  took  place  at  the  time  when  the 
sun  entered  the  watery  sign  Cancer,  about  ten  thou- 
sand years  ago  as  told  Plato  by  the  Egyptian  priests. 


THE  COMING  AGE  79 

Thus  we  see  there  is  no  sudden  change  of  constitution 
or  environment  for  the  whole  human  race  when  a  new 
epoch  is  ushered  in,  but  an  overlapping  of  conditions 
which  makes  it  possible  for  most  of  the  race  by- 
gradual  adjustment  to  enter  the  new  condition,  though 
the  change  may  seem  sudden  to  the  individual  when 
the  preparatory  change  has  been  accomplished  uncon- 
sciously. The  metamorphosis  of  a  tadpole  from  a 
denizen  of  the  watery  element  to  one  of  the  airy 
gives  an  analogy  of  the  past,  and  the  transformation 
of  the  earthworm  to  a  butterfly  soaring  in  the  air  is  an 
apt  simile  of  the  coming  age.  When  the  heavenly 
time  marker  came  into  Aries  by  precession,  a  new 
cycle  commenced,  and  the  "glad  tidings"  were 
preached  by  Christ.  He  said  by  implication  that  the 
new  heaven  and  earth  were  not  ready  then  when  He 
told  His  disciples :  Whither  I  go  you  cannot  now  fol- 
low, but  you  shall  follow  afterwards.  I  go  to  prepare 
a  place  for  you  and  will  come  again  and  receive  you. 

Later  John  saw  in  a  vision  the  new  Jerusalem 
descending  from  heaven,  and  Paul  taught  the  Thes- 
salonians  "by  the  word  of  the  Lord"  that  those  who 
are  Christs  at  His  coming  shall  be  caught  up  in  the 
air  to  meet  Him  and  be  with  Him  for  the  age. 

But  during  this  change  there  are  pioneers  who  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God  before  their  brethren.  Christ,  in 
Matt.  11:12,  said  that  "the  kingdom  of  heaven  suf- 
fereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force." 
This  is  not  a  correct  translation.  It  ought  to  be :  Tho 


80  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

kingdom  of  the  heavens  has  been  invaded  (biaxetai}, 
and  invaders  seize  on  her.  Men  and  women  have  al- 
ready learned  through  holy,  helpful  lives  to  lay  aside 
the  body  of  flesh  and  blood,  either  intermittently  or 
permanently,  and  to  walk  the  skies  with  winged  feet, 
intent  upon  the  business  of  their  Lord,  clad  in  the 
ethereal  "wedding  garment"  of  the  new  dispensation. 
This  change  may  be  accomplished  through  a  life  of 
simple  helpfulness  and  prayer  as  practiced  by  devoted 
Christians,  no  matter  with  what  church  they  affiliate, 
as  well  as  by  the  specific  exercises  given  in  the  Rosi- 
crucian  Fellowship.  The  latter  will  prove  barren  of 
results,  unless  accompanied  by  constant  acts  of  love 
for  love  will  be  the  keynote  of  the  coming  age  as  Law 
is  of  the  present  order.  The  intense  expression  of  the 
former  quality  increases  the  phosphorescent  luminos- 
ity and  density  of  the  ethers  in  our  vital  bodies,  the 
fiery  streams  sever  the  tie  to  the  mortal  coil,  and  the 
man,  once  born  of  water  upon  his  emergence  from 
Atlantis,  is  now  born  of  the  spirit  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  The  dynamic  force  of  his  love  has  opened  a 
way  to  the  land  of  love,  and  indescribable  is  the  re- 
joicing among  those  already  there  when  new  invaders 
arrive,  for  each  new  arrival  hastens  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  and  the  definite  establishment  of  the  Kingdom. 
Among  the  religiously  inclined  there  is  a  definite 
unceasing  cry:  How  long,  0  Lord;  how  long?  And 
despite  the  emphatic  statement  of  Christ  that  the  day 
and  hour  are  unknown,  even  to  Himself,  prophets  con- 


THE  COMING  AGE  81 

tinue  to  gain  credence  when  they  predict  His  coming 
on  a  certain  day,  though  each  is  discomfited  when  the 
day  passes  without  development.  The  question  has 
also  been  mooted  among  our  students,  and  the  present 
chapter  is  an  attempt  to  show  the  fallacy  of  looking  for 
the  Second  Advent  in  a  year  or  fifty  or  five  hundred. 
The  Elder  Brothers  decline  to  commit  themselves 
further  than  to  point  out  what  must  first  be  accom- 
plished. 

At  the  time  of  Christ  the  sun  was  in  about  seven 
degrees  of  Aries.  Five  hundred  years  were  required 
to  bring  the  precession  to  the  thirtieth  degree  of  Pisces. 
During  that  time  the  new  church  lived  through  a 
stage  of  offensive  and  defensive  violence  well  justify- 
ing the  words  of  Christ :  ' '  I  came  not  to  bring  peace 
but  a  sword."  Fourteen  hundred  years  more  have 
elapsed  under  the  negative  influence  of  Pisces,  which 
has  fostered  the  power  of  the  church  and  bound  the 
people  by  creed  and  dogma. 

In  the  middle  of  the  last  century  the  sun  came 
within  orb  of  influence  of  the  scientific  sign  Aquarius, 
and  although  it  will,  take  about  six  hundred  }rears  be- 
fore the  Aquarian  Age  commences,  it  is  highly  instruc- 
tive to  note  what  changes  the  mere  touch  has  wrought 
in  the  world.  Our  limited  space  precludes  enumera- 
tion of  the  wonderful  advances  made  since  then;  but 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  science,  invention,  and 
resultant  industry  have  completely  changed  the 
world,  its  social  life,  and  economic  conditions.  The 

6 


82  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

great  strides  made  in  means  of  communication  have 
done  much  to  break  down  barriers  of  race  prejudice 
and  prepare  us  for  conditions  of  Universal  Brother- 
hood. Engines  of  destruction  have  been  made  so 
fearfully  efficient  that  the  militant  nations  will  be 
forced  ere  long  to  "beat  their  swords  into  plowshares 
and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks."  The  sword  has 
had  its  reign  during  the  Piscean  Age,  but  science  will 
rule  in  the  Aquarian  Age. 

In  the  land  of  the  setting  sun  we  may  expect  to  first 
see  the  ideal  conditions  of  the  Aquarian  Age :  A  blend- 
ing of  religion  and  science,  forming  a  religious  science 
and  a  scientific  religion,  which  will  promote  the 
health,  happiness  and  the  enjoyment  of  life  in  abund- 
ant measure. 

Sugar  For  Alcohol 

In  the  chapter  elucidating  the  Law  of  Assimilation 
in  the  Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Conception,  we  stated  that 
minerals  cannot  be  assimilated  because  they  lack  a 
vital  body,  which  lack  makes  it  impossible  for  man  to 
raise  their  vibratory  rate  to  his  own  pitch.  Plants 
have  a  vital  body  and  no  self-consciousness,  hence  are 
most  easily  assimilated  and  remain  with  man  longer 
than  cells  of  animal  flesh,  which  is  permeated  by  a 
desire  body.  The  vibratory  rate  of  the  latter  is  high, 
and  much  energy  is  required  in  assimilation;  its  cells 
also  quickly  escape  and  make  it  necessary  for  the 
flesh  eater  to  forage  often. 


THE  COMING  AGE  83 

We  are  aware  that  alcohol  is  a  "foreign  spirit" 
and  a  "spirit  of  decay,"  because  it  is  generated  by 
fermentation  OUTSIDE  the  consumer's  system.  Being 
"spirit,"  it  vibrates  with  such  intense  rapidity  that 
the  human  spirit  is  incapable  of  tuning  it  down  and 
controlling  it  as  food  must  be,  hence  metabolism  is  out 
of  the  question.  Nay,  more,  as  we  cannot  reduce  its 
vibratory  rate  to  that  of  our  bodies,  this  foreign  spirit 
may  accelerate  their  vibratory  pitch  and  control  us  as 
happens  in  the  state  of  intoxication.  Thus  alcohol  is 
a  great  danger  to  mankind  and  one  from  which  we 
must  be  emancipated  ere  we  can  realize  our  divine 
nature. 

A  stimulant  spirit  is  necessary  while  we  live  on  a 
diet  of  flesh  or  progress  would  stop,  and  a  food  has 
been  provided  for  the  pioneers  of  the  West  that  an- 
swers all  requirements ;  its  name  is  ' '  sugar. ' '  From 
sugar  the  ego  itself  generates  alcohol  INSIDE  the  sys- 
tem by  the  very  processes  of  metabolism.  This  product 
is  therefore  both  food  and  stimulant,  perfectly  keyed 
to  the  vibratory  pitch  of  the  body.  It  has  all  the  good 
qualities  of  alcohol  in  enhanced  measure  and  none  of 
its  drawbacks.  To  perceive  properly  the  effect  of  this 
food,  consider  the  peoples  of  eastern  Europe  where 
but  little  sugar  is  consumed.  They  are  slavish;  they 
speak  of  themselves  in  terms  of  depreciation ;  the  pro- 
noun "I"  is  always  spelled  with  small  letters  but 
"you"  with  a  capital.  England  consumes  five  times 
as  much  sugar  per  capita  as  Russia.  In  the  former 


84  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

we  meet  a  different  spirit,  the  big  "I"  and  the  little 
"you."  In  America  the  candy  store  becomes  a  most 
dangerous  rival  of  the  saloon,  for  the  man  who  eats 
sweets  will  not  drink,  and  there  is  no  surer  cure  for 
alcoholism  than  to  induce  the  sufferer  to  eat  freely  of 
sweets.  The  drunkard  abhors  sugar,  however,  while 
his  system  is  under  the  sway  of  the  " foreign  spirit." 
The  temperance  movement  was  begun  in  the  land 
where  most  sugar  is  consumed,  and  has  generated  "the 
spirit  of  self-respect." 


85 


Chapter  XI 
MEAT  AND  DRINK  AS  FACTORS  IN  EVOLUTION 

IN  PREVIOUS  chapters  we  saw  how  infant  hu- 
manity was  cared  for  by  superhuman  guardians, 
provided  with  appropriate  food,  led  out  of  danger's 
way,  and  sheltered  in  all  respects  until  grown  to 
human  stature  and  fit  to  enter  the  school  of  expe- 
rience to  learn  the  lessons  of  life  in  the  phenomenal 
world.  We  saw  also  how  the  rainbow  points  to  nat- 
ural laws  peculiar  to  the  present  age,  how  man  was 
given  free  will  under  these  laws,  and  how  the  spirit 
of  wine  was  given  to  cheer  and  to  stimulate  his  own 
timid,  fearful  spirit,  to  nerve  it  for  the  war  of  the 
world. 

In  an  analogous  manner  the  irresponsible  little 
child  who  has  been  brought  under  the  waters  of  bap- 
tism by  its  natural  guardians  is  cared  for  through  the 
years  of  childhood  while  its  various  vehicles  are  being 
organized.  When  the  parental  blood  stored  in  the 
thymus  gland  has  been  exhausted  and  the  child  thus 
emancipated  from  the  parents,  it  awakes  to  individu- 
ality, to  the  feeling  of  "  I  AM. ' '  It  has  then  been  pre- 


86  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

pared  with  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  with  which 
to  fight  the  battle  of  life ;  and  at  that  time  the  youth 
is  taken  to  the  church  and  given  the  bread  and  wine 
to  nerve  and  nourish  him  spiritually,  also  as  a  symbol 
that  henceforth  he  is  a  free  agent,  only  responsible  to 
the  laws  of  God.  A  blessing  or  a  curse,  this  freedom, 
according  to  the  way  it  is  used. 

In  early  Atlantis  mankind  was  a  universal  brother- 
hood of  submissive  children  with  no  incentive  to  war 
or  strife.  Later  they  were  segregated  into  nations, 
and  wars  inculcated  loyalty  to  kin  and  country.  Each 
sovereign  was  an  absolute  autocrat  with  power  over 
life  and  limb  of  his  subjects,  who  were  numbered  in 
hundreds  of  millions,  and  who  yielded  ungrudging 
and  slavish  submission,  an  attitude  maintained  to  the 
present  day  among  the  millions  of  Asiatics,  who  are 
vegetarians  and  consequently  need  no  alcohol. 

As  flesh  eating  came  into  vogue,  wine  became  a 
more  and  more  common  beverage.  In  consequence  of 
flesh  eating  much  material  progress  was  made  imme- 
diately preceding  the  advent  of  Christ,  and  because  of 
the  practice  of  drinking  wine  an  increasing  number  of 
men  asserted  themselves  as  leaders,  with  the  result 
that  instead  of  a  few  large  nations  such  as  people 
Asia,  many  small  nations  were  formed  in  the  south- 
western portion  of  Europe  and  Asia  Minor. 

But  though  the  great  mass  of  people  who  formed 
these  various  nations  were  ahead  of  their  Asiatic 
brethren  as  craftsmen,  they  continued  submissive  to 


MEAT  AND  DBINK  87 

their  rulers  and  lived  as  much  in  their  traditions  as 
did  the  latter.  Christ  upbraided  them  because  they 
gloried  in  being  Abraham's  seed.  He  told  them  that 
"before  Abraham  was,  i  AM,"  that  is,  the  ego  has  al- 
ways existed. 

It  is  His  mission  to  emancipate  humanity  from 
Law  and  lead  it  to  LOVE,  to  destroy  "the  kingdoms  of 
men"  with  all  their  antagonism  to  one  another,  and 
to  build  upon  their  ruins  "the  kingdom  of  God."  An 
illustration  will  make  the  method  clear : 

If  we  have  a  number  of  brick  buildings  and  desire 
to  amalgamate  them  into  one  large  structure,  it  is 
necessary  to  break  them  down  first  and  free  each 
brick  from  the  mortar  which  binds  it.  Likewise  each 
human  being  must  be  freed  from  the  fetters  of  family, 
hence  Christ  taught  "Unless  a  man  leave  father  and 
mother  he  cannot  be  my  disciple. ' '  He  must  outgrow 
religious  partisanship  and  patriotism  and  learn  to 
say  with  the  much  misunderstood  and  maligned 
Thomas  Paine:  "The  world  is  my  country,  and  to  do 
good  is  my  religion." 

Christ  did  not  mean  that  we  are  to  forsake  those 
who  have  a  claim  upon  our  help  and  support,  but  that 
we  are  not  to  permit  the  suppression  of  our  individu- 
ality out  of  deference  to  family  traditions  and  beliefs. 

Consequently  He  came  "not  to  bring  peace,  but  a 
sword ; ' '  and  whereas  the  eastern  religions  discourage 
the  use  of  wine,  Christ's  first  miracle  was  to  change 
water  to  wine.  The  sword  and  the  wine  cup  are 


88  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

signatures  of  the  Christian  religion,  for  by  them  na- 
tions have  been  broken  to  pieces  and  the  individual 
emancipated.  Government  by  the  people,  for  the  peo- 
ple, is  a  fact  in  northwestern  Europe,  the  rulers  being 
that  principally  in  name  only. 

But  the  fostering  of  the  martial  spirit  such  as  pro- 
vails  in  Europe  was  only  a  means  to  an  end.  The  seg- 
regation which  it  has  caused  must  give  place  to  a 
regime  of  brotherhood  such  as  professed  by  Paine.  A 
new  step  was  necessary  to  bring  this  about ;  a  new  food 
must  be  found  which  would  act  upon  the  spirit  in 
such  a  way  as  to  foster  individuality  through  assertion 
of  self  without  oppression  of  others  and  without  loss 
of  self-respect.  We  have  enunciated  it  as  a  law  that 
only  spirit  can  act  upon  spirit,  and  therefore  that 
food  must  be  a  spirit  but  differing  in  other  respects 
from  intoxicants. 

Before  describing  this  let  us  see  what  flesh  has  done 
for  the  evolution  of  the  world. 

We  have  noted  previously  that  during  the  Polarian 
Epoch  man  had  only  a  dense  body;  he  was  like  the 
present  minerals  in  this  respect,  and  by  nature  he  was 
as  inert  and  passive. 

By  absorbing  the  crystalloids  prepared  by  plants 
he  evolved  a  vital  body  during  the  Hyperborean 
Epoch  and  became  plant-like  both  in  constitution  and 
by  nature,  for  he  lived  without  exertion  and  as  un- 
consciously as  the  plants. 

Later  he  extracted  milk  from  the  then  stationary 


MEAT  AND  DRINK  89 

animals.  Desire  for  this  more  readily  digestible  food 
spurred  him  on  to  exertion,  and  gradually  his  desire 
nature  was  evolved  during  the  Lemurian  Epoch.  Thus 
he  became  constituted  like  the  present  day  Herbivora. 
Though  possessed  of  a  passional  nature,  he  was  docile 
and  could  not  be  induced  to  fight  save  to  defend  him- 
self, his  mate,  and  family.  Hunger  alone  had  the 
power  to  make  him  aggressive. 

Therefore,  when  animals  began  to  move  and  sought 
to  elude  this  ruthless  parasite,  increasing  difficulty  of 
obtaining  the  coveted  food  aroused  his  craving  to  such 
an  extent  that  when  he  had  hunted  and  caught  an 
animal,  he  was  no  longer  content  to  suck  its  udders 
dry  but  commenced  to  feed  upon  its  blood  and  flesh. 
Thus  he  became  as  ferocious  as  our  present  day 
Carnivora. 

Digestion  of  flesh  food  requires  much  more  power- 
ful chemical  action  and  speedy  elimination  of  the 
waste  than  that  of  a  vegetable  diet  as  proved  by 
chemical  analysis  of  the  gastric  juices  from  animals, 
and  by  the  fact  that  the  intestines  of  Herbivora  are 
many  times  longer  than  those  of  a  carnivorous  animal 
of  even  size.  Carnivora  easily  become  drowsy  and 
averse  to  exertion. 

When  prodded  by  the  pangs  of  hunger  the  ferocious 
wolf  does  indeed  pursue  its  prey  with  unwavering 
perseverance,  and  the  spring  of  the  crouching  king  of 
beasts  overmatches  the  speed  of  the  wing-footed  deer. 
By  ambush  the  feline  family  foil  the  fleetest  in  their 


90  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

attempts  to  escape.  The  cunning  of  the  fox  is 
proverbial,  and  the  slinking  nocturnal  habits  of  the 
hyena  and  kindred  scavengers  illustrate  the  depth  of 
depravity  resulting  from  a  diet  of  decayed  flesh. 

The  vices  generated  by  flesh  eating  may  be  said 
to  be  lassitude,  ferocity,  low  cunning,  and  depravity. 
"We  may  tame  the  herbivorous  ox  and  elephant.  Their 
diet  makes  them  docile  and  stores  enormous  power 
which  they  obediently  use  in  our  service  to  perform 
prolonged  and  arduous  labor.  The  flesh  food  required 
by  the  constitutional  peculiarities  of  Carnivora  makes 
them  dangerous  and  incapable  of  thorough  domestica- 
tion. A  cat  may  scratch  at  any  moment,  and  the 
muzzling  ordinances  of  large  cities  are  ample  proof 
of  the  danger  of  dogs.  Besides,  energy  contained  in 
the  diet  of  Carnivora  is  so  largely  expended  in  diges- 
tion that  they  are  drowsy  and  unfitted  for  sustained 
labor  like  the  horse  or  elephant. 

The  drowsiness  following  a  heavy  meal  of  meat  is 
too  well  known  to  require  argument,  and  the  custom 
of  taking  stimulants  with  food  is  an  outgrowth  of  the 
desire  to  counteract  the  deadening  effect  of  dead 
flesh.  The  intensified  effect  of  feasting  upon  flesh  in 
an  advanced  state  of  decay  is  well  illustrated  in 
"society,"  where  banquets  of  game  that  is  "high" 
are  accompanied  by  orgies  of  the  wildest  nature  and 
followed  by  indulgence  of  the  vilest  instincts. 

The  Westerner  who  can  live  upon  a  clean,  sweet, 
wholesome  diet  of  vegetables,  cereals,  and  fruits,  does 


MEAT  AND  DRINK  91 

not  become  drowsy  from  his  food ;  he  needs  no  stimu- 
lant. There  are  no  vegetarian  drunkards.  The  sooth- 
ing effects  of  vegetable  food  manifest  as  finer  feelings, 
which  replace  the  ferocity  fostered  by  flesh  food. 
Many  need  the  mixed  diet  yet,  for  the  practice  of 
flesh  eating  has  furthered  the  progress  of  the  world 
as  nothing  else  except  perhaps  its  companion  vice-- 
drunkenness;  and  though  we  cannot  say  that  they 
have  been  blessings  in  disguise,  they  have  at  least  not 
been  unmitigated  curses,  for  in  the  Father's  kingdom 
all  seeming  evil  nevertheless  works  for  •  good  in  some 
respect,  though  it  may  not  be  apparent  upon  the 
surface.  We  shall  see  how  presently. 

A  private  corporation,  the  East  India  Company, 
commenced  and  practically  achieved  the  subjugation 
of  India  with  her  three  hundred  million  people,  for 
the  English  are  voracious  flesh  eaters,  while  the 
Hindu's  diet  fosters  docility.  But  when  England 
fought  the  flesh  eating  Boers,  Greek  met  Greek,  and 
the  valor  displayed  by  both  sides  is  a  matter  of  bril- 
liant record.  Courage,  physical  as  well  as  moral,  is 
a  virtue  and  cowardice  a  vice.  Flesh  has  fostered  self- 
assertion  and  helped  us  to  develop  a  backbone,  though 
unfortunately  often  at  the  expense  of  others  who  still 
retain  the  wishbone.  It  has  done  more  as  will  be 
illustrated : 

As  said  previously,  the  crouching  cat  is  forced  to 
employ  strategy  to  save  strength  when  procuring  its 
prey,  so  that  it  may  retain  sufficient  energy  to  digest 


92  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

the  victim.  Thus  brain  becomes  the  ally  of  brawn. 
In  ancient  Atlantis  desire  for  flesh  developed  the  in- 
genuity of  primitive  man  and  led  him  to  trap  the 
elusive  denizens  of  field  and  forest.  The  hunter's 
snare  was  among  the  first  LABOR-SAVING  DEVICES — 
which  mark  the  beginning  of  the  evolution  of  mind, 
and  of  the  uncompromising,  unflagging  struggle  oi 
the  meat  fed  mind  for  supremacy  over  matter. 

We  say  "the  meat  fed  mind,"  and  we  reiterate  it, 
because  we  wish  to  emphasize  that  it  is  by  the  nations 
which  have  adopted  flesh  food  that  the  most  note- 
worthy progress  has  been  made.  The  vegetarian 
Asiatics  remain  upon  the  lower  rungs  of  civilization. 
The  further  west  we  travel,  the  more  the  consumption 
of  meat  increases  as  does  the  disinclination  for  bodily 
exercise,  and  consequently  the  activity  of  the  mind  is 
increased  to  a  higher  and  higher  pitch  in  the  invention 
of  labor-saving  devices.  The  American  agriculturists' 
acres  are  counted  by  thousands,  and  they  harvest 
large  crops  with  less  labor  than  the  peasant  of  the 
East  who  has  only  a  small  patch  of  ground.  The  reason 
is  that  the  poor,  plodding,  grain  fed  Easterner  has 
only  his  hands  and  his  hoe,  which  he  keeps  in  motion 
all  day  and  day  after  day,  while  the  meat  fed,  pro- 
gressive Westerner  turns  power-driven  implements 
into  his  fertile  fields  and  sits  down  in  a  comfortable 
seat  to  watch  them  work.  One  uses  muscle,  the  other 
mmd. 


MEAT  AND  DRINK  93 

Thus  the  indomitable  courage  and  energy  which 
have  transformed  the  face  of  the  Western  World  are 
virtues  directly  traceable  to  flesh  food,  which  also 
fosters  love  of  ease  and  invention  of  labor-saving  de- 
vices ;  while  alcohol  stimulates  enterprise  in  execution 
of  schemes  thus  hatched  to  procure  the  maximum  of 
comfort  with  a  minimum  of  labor. 

But  the  spirit  of  alcohol  is  obtained  by  a  process  of 
fermentation.  It  is  a  spirit  of  decay,  altogether  dif- 
ferent from  the  spirit  of  life  in  man.  This  counter- 
feit spirit  lures  man  on  and  on,  always  holding  before 
his  vision  dreams  of  future  grandeur,  and  goading 
him  to  strenuous  efforts  of  body  and  mind  in  order 
to  attain  and  obtain.  Then  when  he  has  achieved  and 
attained,  he  awakens  to  the  utter  worthlessness  of  his 
prize.  Possession  soon  shatters  illusion  as  to  the  worth 
of  whatever  he  may  have  acquired ;  nothing  the  world 
has  to  give  can  finally  satisfy.  Then  again  the  lethal 
draught  drowns  disappoinment,  and  the  mind  con- 
jures up  a  new  illusion.  This  he  pursues  with  fresh 
zeal  and  high  hopes  to  meet  disappointment  again  and 
again,  for  lives  and  lives,  until  at  last  he  learns  that 
"wine  is  a  mocker,"  and  that  "all  is  vanity  but  to 
serve  God  and  to  do  His  will/7 


94 


Chapter  XII 
A  LIVING  SACRIFICE 

VOLUMES,  OR  RATHER  libraries,  nave  been 
written  to  explain  the  nature  of  God,  but  it  is 
probably  a  universal  experience  that  the  more  we  read 
of  other  people 's  explanations,  the  less  we  understand. 
There  is  one  description,  given  by  the  inspired  apostle 
John  when  he  wrote  "God  is  Light,"  which  is  as 
illuminating  as  the  others  are  befogging  to  the  mind. 
Anyone  who  takes  this  passage  for  meditation  occa- 
sionally will  find  a  rich  reward  waiting,  for  no  mat- 
ter how  many  times  we  take  up  this  subject,  our  own 
development  in  the  passing  years  assures  us  each  time 
a  fuller  and  better  understanding.  Each  time  we 
sink  ourselves  in  these  three  words  we  lave  in  a  spir- 
itual fountain  of  inexhaustible  depth,  and  each  suc- 
ceeding time  we  sound  more  thoroughly  the  divine 
depths  and  draw  more  closely  to  our  Father  in  heaven. 
To  get  in  touch  with  our  subject,  let  us  go  back  in 
time  to  get  our  bearing  and  the  direction  of  our  future 
line  of  progress. 


A  LIVING  SACRIFICE  95 

The  first  time  our  consciousness  was  directed  to- 
wards the  Light  was  shortly  after  we  had  become  en- 
dowed with  mind  and  had  entered  definitely  upon 
our  evolution  as  human  beings  in  Atlantis,  the  land  of 
the  mist,  deep  down  in  the  basins  of  the  earth,  where 
the  warm  mist  emitted  from  the  cooling  earth  hung 
like  a  dense  fog  over  the  land.  Then  the  starry  heights 
of  the  universe  were  never  seen,  nor  could  the  silver}' 
light  of  the  moon  penetrate  the  dense,  foggy  atmos- 
phere which  hung  over  that  ancient  land.  Even  the 
fiery  splendor  of  the  sun  was  almost  totally  extin- 
guished, for  when  we  look  in  the  Memory  of  Nature 
pertaining  to  that  time,  it  appears  very  much  as  an 
arc  lamp  on  a  high  pole  looks  to  us  when  it  is  foggy. 
It  was  exceedingly  dim,  and  had  an  aura  of  various 
colors,  very  similar  to  those  which  we  observe  around 
an  arc  light. 

But  this  light  had  a  fascination.  The  ancient  At- 
lanteans  were  taught  by  the  divine  Hierarchs  who 
walked  among  them,  to  aspire  to  the  light,  and  as  the 
spiritual  sight  was  then  already  on  the  wane  (even 
the  messengers,  or  Elohim,  being  perceived  with  diffi- 
culty by  the  majority),  they  aspired  all  the  more 
ardently  to  the  new  light,  for  they  feared  the  darkness 
of  which  they  had  become  conscious  through  the  gift 
of  mind. 

Then  came  the  inevitable  flood  when  the  mist 
cooled  and  condensed.  The  atmosphere  cleared,  and 
the  "chosen  people"  were  saved.  Those  who  had 


96  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

worked  within  themselves  and  learned  to  build  the 
necessary  organs  required  to  breathe  in  an  atmosphere 
such  as  we  have  today,  survived  and  came  to  the  light. 
It  was  not  an  arbitrary  choice;  the  work  of  the  past 
consisted  of  body  building.  Those  who  had  only  gill 
clefts,  such  as  the  foetus  still  uses  in  its  prenatal  de- 
velopment, were  as  unfit  physiologically  to  enter  the 
new  era  as  the  foetus  would  be  to  be  born  were  it  to 
neglect  to  build  lungs.  It  would  die  as  those  ancient 
people  died  when  the  rare  atmosphere  made  gill  clefts 
useless. 

Since  the  day  when  we  came  out  of  ancient  Atlantis 
our  bodies  have  been  practically  complete,  that  is 
to  say,  no  new  vehicles  are  to  be  added;  but  from 
that  time  and  from  now  on  those  who  wish  to  follow 
the  light  must  strive  for  soul  growth.  The  bodies 
which  we  have  crystallized  about  us  must  be  dissolved, 
and  the  quintessence  of  experience  extracted,  which 
as  "soul"  may  be  amalgamated  with  the  spirit  to 
nourish  it  from  impotence  to  omnipotence.  Therefore, 
the  Tabernacle  in  the  Wilderness  was  given  to  the 
ancients,  and  the  light  of  God  descended  upon  the 
Altar  of  Sacrifice.  This  is  of  great  signficance :  The 
ego  had  just  descended  into  its  tabernacle,  the  body. 
"We  all  know  the  tendency  of  the  primitive  instinct 
towards  selfishness,  and  if  we  have  studied  the  higher 
ethics  we  also  know  how  subversive  of  good  the  in- 
dulgence of  the  egotistic  tendency  is;  therefore,  God 


A  LIVING  SACRIFICE  97 

immediately  placed  before  mankind  the  Divine  Light 
upon  the  Altar  of  Sacrifice. 

Upon  this  altar  they  were  forced  by  dire  necessity 
to  offer  their  cherished  possessions  for  every  trans- 
gression, God  appearing  to  them  as  a  hard  taskmaster 
whose  displeasure  it  was  dangerous  to  incur.  But  still 
the  Light  drew  them.  They  knew  then  that  it  was 
futile  to  attempt  to  escape  from  the  hand  of  God. 
They  had  never  heard  the  words  of  John,  "God  is 
Light,"  but  they  had  already  learned  from  the 
heavens  in  a  measure  the  meaning  of  infinitude,  as 
measured  by  the  realm  of  light,  for  we  hear  David 
exclaim:  "Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit?  or 
whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend  up 
into  heaven,  thou  art  there :  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell, 
thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning, 
and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  even 
there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me  and  thy  right  hand  shall 
hold  me.  If  I  say,  surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me, 
even  the  night  shall  be  light  about  me.  Yea,  the 
darkness  hideth  not  from  thee,  but  the  night  shineth 
as  the  day,  for  the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both 
alike  to  thee." 

"With  every  year  that  passes,  with  the  aid  of  the 
greatest  telescopes  which  the  ingenuity  and  mechani- 
cal skill  of  man  have  been  able  to  construct  to  pierce 
the  depths  of  space,  it  becomes  more  evident  that  the 
infinitude  of  light  teaches  us  the  infinitude  of  God. 
When  we  hear  that  "men  loved  darkness  rather  than 


98  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Light  because  their  deeds  were  evil,"  that  also  rings 
true  to  what  we  unfortunately  know  as  present  day 
facts,  and  illumines  the  nature  of  God  for  us;  for  is 
it  not  true  that  we  always  feel  endangered  in  the  dark, 
but  that  the  light  gives  us  a  sense  of  safety  which  is 
akin  to  the  feeling  of  a  child  who  feels  the  protecting 
hand  of  its  father  ? 

To  render  permanent  this  condition  of  being  in  the 
Light  was  the  next  step  in  God 's  work  with  us,  which 
culminated  in  the  birth  of  Christ,  who  as  the  bodily 
presence  of  the  Father,  bore  about  in  Himself  that 
Light,  for  the  Light  came  into  the  world  that  whoso- 
ever should  believe  in  Christ  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life.  He  said,  *  *  I  am  the  Light  of  the 
World."  The  altar  in  the  Tabernacle  had  illustrated 
the  principle  of  sacrifice  as  the  medium  of  regenera- 
tion, so  Christ  said  to  His  disciples :  Greater  love  hath 
no  man  than  this,  that  he  lay  down  his  life  for  his 
friends.  Ye  are  my  friends.  And  forthwith  He  com- 
menced a  sacrifice,  which,  contrary  to  the  accepted 
orthodox  opinion  was  not  consummated  in  a  few 
hours  of  physical  suffering  upon  a  material  cross,  but 
is  as  perpetual  as  were  the  sacrifices  made  upon  the 
altar  of  the  Tabernacle  in  the  Wilderness,  for  it  en- 
tails an  annual  descent  into  the  earth  and  an  endur- 
ance of  all  that  the  cramping  earth  conditions  must 
mean  to  such  a  great  spirit. 

This  must  continue  till  a  sufficient  number  have 
evolved  who  can  bear  the  burden  of  this  dense  lump 


A  LIVING  SACRIFICE  99 

of  darkness  which  we  call  the  earth,  and  which  hangs 
as  a  millstone  about  the  neck  of  humanity,  an  impedi- 
ment to  further  spiritual  growth.  Until  we  learn  to 
follow  ' '  in  His  steps, ' '  we  can  rise  no  higher  towards 
tne  Light. 

It  is  related  that  when  Leonardo  da  Vinci  had  com- 
pleted his  famous  painting.  "The  Last  Supper,"  he 
asked  a  friend  to  look  at  it  and  tell  him  what  he 
thought  of  it. 

The  friend  looked  at  it  critically  for  a  few  minutes 
and  then  said: 

"I  think  you  have  made  a  mistake  in  painting  the 
goblets  from  which  the  apostles  drink  so  ornamental 
and  to  resemble  gold.  People  in  their  positions  would 
not  drink  from  such  expensive  vessels. ' ' 

Da  Vinci  then  drew  his  brush  through  the  entire 
set  of  vessels  which  had  drawn  the  criticism  of  his 
friend,  but  he  was  heartbroken,  for  he  had  painted 
that  picture  with  his  soul  rather  than  with  his  hands, 
and  he  had  prayed  over  it  that  it  might  speak  a  mes 
sage  to  the  world.  He  had  put  all  the  greatness  of 
his  art  and  the  whole-hearted  devotion  of  his  soul  into 
that  effort  to  paint  a  Christ  who  should  speak  the 
word  that  would  lead  men  to  emulate  His  deeds. 

Can  you  see  Him  as  He  sits  there  at  that  festive 
board,  THE  EMBODIMENT  OF  LIGHT,  and  speaks  those 
wonderful,  mystic  words :  This  is  my  body,  this  is  my 
blocd,  given  for  you — a  living  sacrifice. 

In  the  past  period  of  our  spiritual  career  we  have 


100  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

been  looking  for  a  Light  exterior  to  ourselves,  but  now 
we  have  arrived  at  the  point  where  we  must  look  for 
the  Christ  light  within  and  emulate  Him  by  making 
of  ourselves  "living  sacrifices"  as  He  is  doing.  Let 
us  remember  that  when  the  sacrifice  which  lies  before 
our  door  seems  pleasant  and  to  our  liking,  when  we 
seem  able  to  pick  and  choose  our  work  in  His  vineyard 
and  do  what  pleases  us,  we  are  not  making  a  real 
sacrifice  as  He  did,  nor  are  we  when  we  are  seen  of 
men  and  applauded  for  our  benevolence.  But  when 
we  are  ready  to  follow  Him  from  that  festive  board 
where  He  was  the  honored  one  among  friends,  into 
the  garden  of  Gethsemane  where  He  was  alone  and 
wrestled  with  the  great  problem  before  Him  while  His 
friends  slept,  then  are  we  making  a  living  sacrifice. 

When  we  are  content  to  follow  "in  His  steps"  to 
that  point  of  self-sacrifice  where  we  can  say  from  the 
bottom  of  our  hearts,  "Thy  will,  not  mine,"  then  we 
have  surely  the  light  within,  and  there  will  never 
henceforth  be  for  us  that  which  we  feel  as  darkness. 
We  shall  walk  in  the  light. 

This  is  our  glorious  privilege,  and  the  meditation 
upon  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "God  is  Light,"  will 
help  us  to  realize  this  ideal  provided  we  add  to  our 
faith,  works,  and  say  by  our  deeds  as  did  the  Christ 
of  da  Vinci,  "This  is  my  body  and  this  is  my  "blood," 
a  living  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  humanity. 


101 


Chapter  XIII 
MAGIC,  WHITE  AND  BLACK 

FROM  TIME  to  time  as  occasion  requires  we  warn 
students  of  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship  in  our 
private  individual  letters  not  to  attend  spirit  seances, 
hypnotic  demonstrations,  or  places  where  incense  is 
burned  by  dabblers  in  occultism.  Black  Magic  is 
practiced  both  consciously  and  unconsciously  to  an  ex- 
tent that  is  almost  unbelievable.  "Malicious  animal 
magnetism, ' '  which  is  only  another  name  for  the  Black 
Force,  is  responsible  for  more  failures  in  business,  loss 
of  health,  and  unhappiness  in  homes  than  most  people 
are  aware  of.  Even  the  perpetrators  of  such  outrages 
are,  as  said,  often  unconscious  of  what  harm  they  have 
done.  Therefore  it  seems  expedient  to  devote  a  chapter 
to  an  explanation  of  some  of  the  laws  of  magic,  which 
are  the  same  .for  the  white  as  for  the  black.  There  is 
only  one  force,  but  it  may  be  used  for  good  or  evil ;  and 
according  to  the  motive  behind  it  and  the  use  that  is 
made  of  it,  it  becomes  either  black  or  white. 

It  is  a  scientific  axiom  that  "Ex  nihil,  nihil  fit  (out 
of  nothing  nothing  comes).  There  must  be  a  seed  be- 


102  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

fore  there  can  be  a  flower,  but  where  the  first  seed 
came  from  is  something  which  science  has  failed  to 
explain.  The  occultist  knows  that  all  things  have 
come  from  arche,  the  infinite  essence  of  chaos,  used 
by  God,  the  Grand  Architect,  for  the  building  of  our 
universe;  and,  given  the  nucleus  of  anything,  the 
accomplished  magician  can  draw  upon  the  same  es- 
sence for  a  further  supply.  Christ,  for  instance,  had 
some  loaves  and  some  fishes ;  by  means  of  that  nucleus 
He  drew  upon  the  primordial  essence  of  chaos  for  the 
rest  needed  in  performing  the  miracle  of  feeding  a 
multitude.  A  human  magician  whose  power  is  not  so 
high  can  more  easily  draw  upon  the  things  which  have 
already  materialized  out  of  chaos.  He  may  take 
flowers  or  fruit  belonging  to  some  one  else,  miles  or 
hundreds  of  mile3  away,  disintegrate  them  into  their 
atomic  constituents,  transport  them  through  the  air, 
and  cause  them  to  assume  their  regular  physical  shape 
in  the  room  where  he  is  entertaining  friends  in  order 
to  amaze  them.  Such  magic  is  grey  at  best,  even  if  he 
sends  sufficient  of  his  coin  to  pay  for  what  he  has 
taken  away ;  if  he  does  not,  it  is  Black  Magic  to  thus 
rob  another  of  his  goods.  Magic  to  be  white  must 
always  be  iised  unselfishly,  and  in  addition,  for  a 
noble  purpose — to  save  a  fellow  being  suffering.  The 
Christ,  when  He  fed  the  multitude  from  chaos,  gave 
as  His  reason  that  they  had  been  with  Him  for  several 
days,  and  if  they  had  to  journey  back  to  their  homes 


MAGIC,  WHITE  AND  BLACK  103 

without  physical  food  they  would  faint  by  the  wayside 
and  suffer  privation. 

God  is  the  Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe  and  the 
Initiates  of  the  White  Schools  are  also  arche-tektons, 
builders  from  the  primordial  essence  in  their  benef- 
icent work  for  humanity.  These  Invisible  Helpers 
require  a  nucleus  from  the  patient 's  vital  body,  which 
is,  as  students  of  the  Kosicrucian  Fellowship  know, 
given  to  them  in  the  effluvia  from  the  hand,  which 
impregnates  the  paper  when  the  patient  makes  ap- 
plication for  help  and  healing.  With  this  nucleus  of 
the  patient's  vital  body  they  are  able  to  draw  upon 
virgin  matter  for  whatever  they  need  to  restore  health 
by  building  up  and  strengthening  the  organism. 

The  Black  Magicians  are  despoilers,  actuated  by 
hatred  and  malice.  They  also  need  a  nucleus  for  their 
nefarious  operations,  and  this  they  obtain  most  easily 
from  the  vital  body  at  spiritualistic  or  hypnotic 
seances,  where  the  sitters  relax,  put  themselves  into 
a  negative  frame  of  mind,  drop  their  jaws,  and  sink 
their  individualities  by  other  distinctly  mediumistic 
practices.  Even  people  who  do  not  frequent  such 
places  are  not  immune,  for  there  are  certain  products 
of  the  vital  body  which  are  ignorantly  scattered  by  all 
and  which  may  be  used  effectively  by  the  Black 
Magicians.  Chief  in  this  category  are  the  hair 
and  finger  nails.  The  Negroes  in  their  voodoo 
magic  use  the  placenta  for  similar  evil  purposes.  One 
particularly  evil  man,  whose  practices  were  exposed  a 


104  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

decade  ago,  obtained  from  boys  the  vital  fluid  which 
he  used  for  his  demoniac  acts.  Even  so  innocent  a 
thing  as  a  glass  of  water  placed  in  close  proximity  to 
certain  parts  of  the  body  of  the  prospective  victim, 
while  the  Black  Magician  converses  with  him  can 
be  made  to  absorb  a  part  of  the  victim's  vital  body. 
This  will  give  the  Black  Magician  the  requisite  nu- 
cleus, or  it  may  be  obtained  from  a  piece  of  the  per- 
son's clothing.  The  same  invisible  emanation  con- 
tained in  the  garment,  which  guides  the  bloodhound 
upon  the  track  of  a  certain  person,  will  also  guide  the 
Magician,  white  or  black,  to  the  abode  of  that  person 
and  furnish  the  Magician  with  a  key  to  the  person's 
system  whereby  the  former  may  help  or  hurt  accord- 
ing to  his  inclination. 

But  there  are  methods  of  protecting  oneself  from 
inimical  influences,  which  we  shall  mention  in  the 
latter  part  of  this  chapter.  We  have  debated  much 
whether  it  were  wise  or  not  to  call  the  attention  of  stu- 
dents to  these  facts,  and  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  does  not  help  anyone  to  imitate  the  ostrich 
which  sticks  its  head  into  a  hole  in  the  sand  at  the 
approach  of  danger.  It  is  better  to  be  enlightened 
concerning  things  that  threaten  so  that  we  may  take 
whatever  precautions  are  necessary  to  meet  the 
emergency.  The  battle  between  the  good  and  the  evil 
forces  is  being  waged  with  an  intensity  that  no  one  not 
engaged  in  the  actual  combat  can  comprehend.  The 
Elder  Brothers  of  the  Rosicrucians  and  kindred  orders 


MAGIC,  WHITE  AND  BLACK  105 

which,  we  may  say,  in  their  totality  represent  the 
Holy  Grail,  live  on  the  love  and  essence  of  the  un- 
selfish service  which  they  gather  and  garner  as  the 
bees  gather  honey,  from  all  who  are  striving  to  live 
the  life.  This  they  add  to  the  lustre  of  the  Holy  Grail, 
which  in  turn  grows  more  lustrous  and  radiates  a 
stronger  influence  upon  all  who  are  spiritually  in- 
clined, imbuing  them  with  greater  ardor,  zeal,  and 
zest  in  the  good  work  and  in  fighting  the  good  fight. 
Similarly  the  evil  forces  of  the  Black  Grail  thrive  on 
hate,  treachery,  cruelty,  and  every  demoniac  deed  on 
the  calendar  of  crime.  Both  the  Black  and  the  \Yhite 
Grail  forces  require  a  pabulum,  the  one  of  good  and 
the  other  of  evil,  for  the  continuance  of  their  existence 
and  for  the  power  to  fight.  Unless  they  get  it,  they 
starve  and  grow  weaker.  Hence  the  relentless  strug- 
gle that  is  going  on  between  them. 

Every  midnight  the  Elder  Brothers  at  their  service 
open  their  breasts  to  attract  the  darts  of  hate,  envy, 
malice,  and  every  evil  that  has  been  launched  during 
the  past  twenty-four  hours.  First,  in  order  that  they 
may  deprive  the  Black  Grail  forces  of  their  food ;  and 
secondly,  that  they  may  transmute  the  evil  to  good. 
Then,  as  the  plants  gather  the  inert  carbon 
dioxide  exhaled  by  mankind  and  build  their  bodies 
therefrom,  so  the  Brothers  of  the  Holy  Grail  trans- 
mute the  evil  within  the  temple;  and  as  the  plants 
send  out  the  renovated  oxygen  so  necessary  to  human 
life,  so  the  Elder  Brothers  return  to  mankind  the 


106  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

transmuted  essence  of  evil  as  qualms  of  conscience 
along  with  the  good  in  order  that  the  world  may  grow 
better  day  by  day. 

The  Black  Brothers,  instead  of  transmuting  the  evil, 
infuse  a  greater  dynamic  energy  into  it  and  speed  it 
on  its  mission  in  vain  endeavors  to  conquer  the  pow- 
ers of  good.  They  use  for  their  purposes  elementals  and 
other  discarnate  entities  which,  being  themselves  of  a 
low  order,  are  available  for  such  vile  practices  as  re- 
quired. In  the  ages  when  men  burned  animal  oil  or 
candles  made  from  the  tallow  of  animals,  elementals 
swarmed  around  them  as  devils  or  demons,  seeking 
to  obsess  whoever  would  offer  an  occasion.  Even  wax 
tapers  offer  food  for  these  entities,  but  the  modern 
methods  of  illumination  by  electricity,  coal  oil,  or  even 
paraffin  candles,  are  uncongenial  to  them.  They  still 
flock  around  our  saloons,  slaughter  houses,  and 
similar  places  where  there  are  passionate  animals,  and 
animal-like  men.  They  also  delight  in  places  where 
incense  is  burned,  for  that  offers  them  an  avenue  of 
access,  and  when  the  sitters  at  seances  inhale  the 
odor  of  the  incense  they  inhale  elemental  spirits  with 
it,  which  affect  them  according  to  their  characters. 

This  is  where  the  protection  we  spoke  about  Devore 
may  be  used.  When  we  live  lives  of  purity,  when  our 
days  are  filled  with  service  to  God  and  to  our  fellow- 
men,  and  with  thoughts  and  actions  of  the  highest 
nobility,  then  we  create  for  ourselves  the  Golden 
Wedding  Garment,  which  is  a  radiant  force  for  good. 


MAGIC,  WHITE  AND  BLACK  107 

No  evil  is  able  to  penetrate  this  armor  for  the  evil 
then  acts  as  a  boomerang  and  recoils  on  the  one  who 
sent  it,  bringing  to  him  the  evil  he  wished  us. 

But  alas,  none  of  us  are  altogether  good.  We  know 
only  too  well  the  war  between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit. 
We  cannot  hide  from  ourselves  the  fact  that  like  Paul, 
"the  good  that  we  would  do,  we  do  not,  and  the  evil 
that  we  would  shun,  that  we  do/'  Far  too  often  our 
good  resolutions  come  to  naught  and  we  do  wrong 
because  it  is  easier.  Therefore  we  all  have  the  nu- 
cleus of  evil  within  ourselves,  which  affords  the  open 
sesame  for  the  evil  forces  to  work  upon.  For  that 
reason  it  is  best  for  us  not  unnecessarily  to  expose 
ourselves  at  places  where  seances  are  held  with 
spirits  invisible  to  us,  no  matter  how  fine  their  teach- 
ings may  sound  to  the  unsophisticated.  Neither  should 
we  take  part  even  as  spectators  at  hypnotic  demonstra- 
tions, for  there  also  a  negative  attitude  lays  one  liable 
to  the  danger  of  obsession.  We  should  at  all  times 
follow  the  advice  of  Paul  and  put  on  the  whole  armor 
of  God.  We  should  be  positive  in  our  fight  for  the 
good  against  the  evil  and  never  let  an  occasion  slip 
to  aid  the  Elder  Brothers  by  word  or  deed  in  the 
Great  War  for  spiritual  supremacy. 


108 


OUR  INVISIBLE  GOVERNMENT 
Chapter  XIV 

IT  IS  WELL  known  to  students  of  the  Rosicrucian 
Philosophy  that  each  species  of  animals  is  dom- 
inated by  a  group  spirit,  which  is  their  guardian  and 
looks  after  these,  its  wards,  with  a  view  to  bringing 
them  along  the  path  of  evolution  that  is  best  suited 
to  their  development;  it  does  not  matter  what  the 
geographical  position  of  these  animals  is ;  the  lion  in 
the  jungles  of  Africa  is  dominated  by  the  same  grour> 
spirit  as  is  the  lion  in  the  cage  of  a  menagerie  in  our 
northern  countries.  Therefore  these  animals  are 
alike  in  all  their  principal  characteristics;  they  have 
the  same  likes  and  dislikes  with  respect  to  diet,  and 
they  act  in  an  almost  identical  manner  under  similar 
circumstances.  If  one  wants  to  study  the  tribe  of  lions 
or  the  tribe  of  tigers,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  study 
one  individual,  for  it  has  neither  choice  nor  preroga- 
tive, but  acts  entirely  according  to  the  dictates  of  the 
group  spirit.  The  mineral  cannot  choose  whether  it 
will  crystallize  or  not ;  the  rose  is  bound  to  bloom ;  tho 
lion  is  compelled  to  prey ;  and  in  each  case  the  activity 
is  dictated  entirely  by  the  group  spirit. 


OUR  INVISIBLE  GOVERNMENT  109 

But  man  is  different ;  when  we  want  to  study  him 
we  find  that  each  individual  is  as  a  species  by  himself. 
What  one  does  under  any  given  circumstances  is  no  in- 
dication of  what  another  may  do;  "one  man's  meat 
is  another  man 's  poison ' ' ;  each  has  different  likes  and 
dislikes.  This  is  because  man  as  we  see  him  in  the 
physical  world  is  the  expression  of  an  individual  in- 
dwelling spirit,  seemingly  having  choice  and  preroga- 
tive. 

But  as  a  matter  of  fact  man  is  not  quite  as  free  as 
he  seems ;  all  students  of  human  nature  have  observed 
that  on  certain  occasions  a  large  number  of  people 
will  act  as  though  dominated  by  one  spirit.  It  is  also 
easy  to  see  without  recourse  to  occultism  that  the  dif- 
ferent nations  have  certain  physical  characteristics. 
We  all  know  the  German,  French,  English,  Italian, 
and  Spanish  types.  Each  of  these  nations  has  char- 
acteristics which  differ  from  those  of  the  other  nations, 
thus  indicating  that  there  must  be  a  race  spirit  at  the 
root  of  these  peculiarities.  The  occultist  who  is  gifted 
with  spiritual  sight  knows  that  such  is  the  case,  and 
that  each  nation  has  a  different  race  spirit  which 
broods  as  a  cloud  over  the  whole  country.  In  it  the 
people  live  and  move  and  have  their  being ;  it  is  their 
guardian  and  is  constantly  working  for  their  develop- 
ment, building  up  their  civilization  and  fostering 
ideals  of  the  highest  nature  compatible  with  their 
capacity  for  progress. 


110  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

In  the  Bible  we  read  that  Jehovah,  Elohim,  who  was 
the  race  spirit  of  the  Jews,  went  before  them  in  a  pillar 
and  a  cloud,  and  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  we  gain  con- 
siderable insight  into  the  workings  of  these  race 
spirits.  The  image  seen  by  Nebuchadnezzar  with  its 
head  of  gold  and  feet  of  clay  showed  plainly  how  a 
civilization  built  up  in  the  beginning  with  golden 
ideals  degenerated  more  and  more  until  in  the  latter 
part  of  its  existence  the  feet  were  of  unstable,  crum- 
bling clay,  and  the  image  was  doomed  to  topple.  Thus 
all  civilizations  when  started  by  the  different  race 
spirits  have  great  and  golden  ideals,  but  humanity  by 
reason  of  having  some  free  will  and  choice  does  not 
follow  implicitly  the  dictates  of  the  race  spirits  as  the 
animals  follow  the  commands  of  the  group  spirits. 
Hence  in  the  course  of  time  a  nation  ceases  to  rise,  and 
as  there  can  be  no  standing  still  in  the  cosmos,  it  be- 
gins to  degenerate  until  finally  the  feet  are  of  clay 
and  it  is  necessary  to  strike  a  blow  to  shatter  it,  that 
another  civilization  may  be  built  up  on  its  ruins. 

But  empires  do  not  fall  without  a  strong  physical 
blow,  and  therefore  an  instrument  of  the  race  spirit 
of  a  nation  is  always  raised  up  at  the  time  when  that 
nation  is  doomed  to  fall.  In  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
chapters  of  Daniel  we  are  given  an  insight  into  the 
workings  of  the  invisible  government  of  the  race 
spirits,  the  powers  behind  the  throne.  Daniel  is  much 
disturbed. in  spirit;  he  fasts,  for  fully  three  weeks, 
praying  for  light,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  an  arch- 


OUR  INVISIBLE  GOVERNMENT  111 

angel,  a  race  spirit,  appears  before  him  and  addresses 
him:  "Fear  not,  Daniel,  for  from  the  first  day  that 
thou  didst  set  thine  heart  to  understand,  and  to 
chasten  thyself  before  thy  God,  thy  words  were  heard, 
and  I  am  -30ine  for  thy  words.  But  the  prince  of  the 
kingdom  of  Persia  withstood  me  one  and  twenty  dcj<3, 
but  lo,  Michael,  one  of  the  chief  princes,  came  to  help 
me;  and  I  remained  there  with  the  king  of  Persia." 
After  he  explains  to  Daniel  what  is  to  happen,  he  says : 
"Knowest  thou  wherefore  I  came  unto  thee?  and  now 
will  I  return  to  fight  with  the  prince  of  Persia:  and 
when  I  am  gone  forth,  lo,  the  prince  of  Grecia  shall 
come,  and  there  is  none  that  holdeth  with  me  in  these 
things,  but  Michael,  your  prince."  The  archangel 
also  says :  "  In  the  first  year  of  Darius  the  Mede, 
even  I  stood  to  confirm  and  to  strengthen  him. ' ' 

So  when  the  handwriting  is  on  the  wall,  some  one 
is  raised  up  to  administer  the  blow ;  it  may  be  a  Cyrus, 
a  Darius,  an  Alexander,  a  Caesar,  a  Napoleon,  or  a 
kaiser.  Such  a  one  may  think  himself  a  prime  mover, 
a  free  individual  acting  by  his  own  choice  and  prerog- 
ative, but  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  is  only  the  instrument 
of  the  invisible  government  of  the  world,  the  power 
behind  thrones,  the  race  spirits,  who  see  the  necessity 
of  breaking  up  civilizations  that  have  outlived  their 
usefulness,  so  that  humanity  may  get  a  new  start  and 
evolve  under  a  new  and  a  higher  ideal  than  that  which 
ensouled  it  before. 


112  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Christ  himself  when  upon  earth,  said:  "I  came  not 
to  bring  peace,  but  a  sword,"  for  it  was  evident  to 
Him  that  as  long  as  humanity  was  divided  into  races 
and  nations  there  could  be  no  "  peace  on  earth  and 
good  will  among  men."  Only  when  the  nations  have 
become  united  in  a  universal  brotherhood  is  peace 
possible.  The  barriers  of  nationalism  must  be  done 
away  with,  and  to  this  end  the  United  States  of 
America  has  been  made  a  melting  pot  where  all  that 
is  best  in  the  old  nations  is  being  brought  together 
and  amalgamated,  so  that  a  new  race  with  higher 
ideals  and  feelings  of  universal  brotherhood  may  be 
born  for  the  Aquarian  Age.  In  the  meantime  the 
barriers  of  nationalism  have  been  partially  broken 
down  in  Europe  by  the  terrible  conflict  just  past.  This 
brings  nearer  the  day  of  universal  amity  and  the 
realization  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Man. 

There  is  also  another  object  to  be  gained.  Of  all 
the  terrors  to  which  mankind  is  subjected,  there  is 
none  so  great  as  death,  which  separates  us  from  those 
we  love,  because  we  are  unable  to  see  them  after  they 
have  stepped  out  of  their  bodies.  But  just  as  surely 
as  the  day  follows  the  night,  so  will  every  teardrop 
wear  away  some  of  the  scale  that  now  blinds  the  eyes 
of  man  to  the  unseen  land  of  the  living  dead.  We  have 
said  repeatedly  and  we  now  reaffirm  that  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  which  will  come  from  the  war  will 
be  the  spiritual  sight  which  a  great  number  of  people 
will  evolve.  The  intense  sorrow  of  millions  of  people, 


OUR  INVISIBLE  GOVERNMENT  113 

the  longing  to  see  again  the  dear  ones  who  have  so 
suddenly  and  ruthlessly  been  torn  from  us,  are  a 
force  of  incalculable  strength  and  power.  Likewise 
those  who  have  been  snatched  by  death  in  the  prime 
of  life  and  who  are  now  in  the  invisible  world  are 
equally  intense  in  their  desires  to  be  reunited  with 
those  near  and  dear  to  them,  so  that  they  may  speak 
the  word  of  comfort  and  assure  them  of  their  well- 
being.  Thus  it  may  be  said  that  two  great  armies  com- 
prising millions  upon  millions  are  tunneling  with 
frantic  energy  and  intensity  of  purpose  through  the 
wall  that  separates  the  invisible  from  the  visible.  Day 
by  day  this  wall  or  veil  is  growing  thinner,  and  sooner 
or  later  the  living  and  the  living  dead  will  meet  in  the 
middle  of  the  tunnel.  Before  we  realize  it,  communica- 
tion will  have  been  established,  and  we  shall  find  it  a 
common  experience  that  when  our  loved  ones  step  out 
of  their  worn  and  sick  bodies,  we  shall  feel  neither 
sorrow  nor  loss  because  we  shall  be  able  to  see  them 
in  their  ethereal  bodies,  moving  among  us  as  they 
used  to  do.  So  out  of  the  great  conflict  we  shall 
come  as  victors  over  death  and  be  able  to  say:  "O 
death,  where  is  thy  sting!  0  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  f ' ' 


114 


Chapter  XV 
PRACTICAL  PRECEPTS  FOR  PRACTICAL  PEOPLE 

ffTF  I  WERE  to  do  business  on  the  principles  laid 
X  down  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  I  would  be 
down  and  out  in  less  than  a  year,"  said  a  critic  re- 
cently. "Why,  the  Bible  is  utterly  impracticable 
under  our  present  economic  conditions;  it  is  impos- 
sible to  live  according  to  it." 

If  that  is  true  there  is  a  good  reason  for  the  un- 
belief of  the  world,  but  in  a  court  the  accused  is  al- 
ways allowed  a  fair  trial,  and  let  us  examine  the 
Bible  thoroughly  before  we  judge.  What  are  the 
specific  charges?  "Why,  they  are  countless,"  an- 
swered the  critic,  "but  to  mention  only  a  few,  let  us 
take  such  passages  as,  'Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit, 
for  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven;'  'Blessed  are 
the  meek  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth;'  'Take  no 
thought  for  the  morrow,  what  ye  shall  eat  or  what  ye 
shall  drink.'  Such  ideas  point  the  way  to  the  poor- 
house.  ' ' 

"Very  well,"  says  the  apologist,  "let  us  take  the 
last  charge  first.  King  James'  version  says :  'No  man 


PRACTICAL  PRECEPTS  FOR  PRACTICAL  PEOPLE  115 

can  serve  two  masters.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon,  therefore  I  say  unto  you,  take  no  thought 
for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat  or  what  ye  shall  drink, 
nor  yet  for  your  body  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not 
the  life  more  than  food  and  the  body  than  raiment? 
Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air :  they  sow  not,  neither  do 
they  reap  nor  gather  into  barns;  yet  your  heavenly 
Father  feedeth  them.  Are  ye  not  much  better  than 
they?  Which  of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add  one 
cubit  unto  his  stature?  And  why  take  ye  thought  for 
raiment?  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they 
grow:  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin.  And  yet 
I  say  unto  you  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not 
arrayed  like  one  of  these.  Wherefore,  if  God  so  clothe 
the  grass  of  the  field,  which  today  is  and  tomorrow 
is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  He  not  much  more  clothe 
you,  0  ye  of  little  faith?  Therefore  take  no  thought, 
saying,  What  shall  we  eat  ?  or,  What  shall  we  drink  ? 
or,  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed?  for  after  all  these 
things  do  the  Gentiles  seek;  your  heavenly  Father 
knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things.  But 
seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteous- 
ness and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.'  ! 
If  this  is  intended  to  mean  that  we  should  waste- 
fully  squander  all  we  have  in  prodigal  or  riotous  liv- 
ing, then  it  is  of  course  not  only  impractical  but  de- 
moralizing. Such  an  interpretation  is,  however,  out 
of  keeping  with  the  tenor  and  teaching  of  the  whole 
Book,  and  it  does  not  say  so.  The  Greek  word 


116  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

merimnon  means  being  overly  careful  or  anxious, 
and  if  we  read  the  passage  with  this  alteration  we 
shall  find  that  it  teaches  a  different  lesson  which  is 
entirely  practical.  Mammon  is  the  Syriac  word, for 
riches,  desired  by  foolish  people.  In  the  preceding 
paragraph  Christ  exhorted  them  not  to  become  ser- 
vants or  slaves  to  riches,  which  they  must  leave  be- 
hind when  the  silver  cord  is  broken  and  the  spirit  re- 
turns to  God,  but  seek  rather  to  live  lives  of  love  and 
service  and  lay  up  treasures  of  good  deeds,  which 
they  might  take  with  them  into  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.  In  the  meantime,  He  exhorted,  be  not  overly 
anxious  regarding  what  you  shall  eat  and  drink  and 
clothe  yourself  with.  Why  worry?  You  cannot  add 
a  hairbreadth  to  your  height  or  a  hair  to  your  head 
by  worrying.  Worry  is  the  most  wasteful  and  de- 
pleting of  all  our  emotions,  and  it  does  no  good  what- 
ever. Your  heavenly  Father  knows  you  need  mate- 
rial things,  therefore  seek  first  His  kingdom  and 
righteousness  and  all  else  needed  will  be  added.  On 
at  least  two  occasions  when  multitudes  came  to  Christ 
in  places  far  from  their  homes  and  distant  from 
towns  where  refreshment  was  obtainable,  He  demon- 
strated this;  He  gave  them  first  the  spiritual  food 
they  sought  and  then  ministered  to  their  bodily  needs 
direct  from  a  spiritual  source  of  supply. 

Does  it  work  out  in  these  modern  days?  Surely 
there  have  been  so  many  demonstrations  of  this  that 
it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  recount  any  special  one. 


PRACTICAL  PRECEPTS  FOR  PRACTICAL  PEOPLE  117 

"When  we  work  and  pray,  pray  and  work,  and  make 
our  lives  a  living  prayer  for  opportunities  to  serve 
others,  then  all  earthly  things  will  come  of  their  own 
accord  as  we  need  them,  and  they  will  keep  coming- 
in  larger  measure  according  to  the  degree  to  which 
they  are  used  in  the  service  of  God.  If  we  regard 
ourselves  only  as  stewards  and  custodians  of  what- 
ever earthly  goods  we  possess,  then  we  are  really 
"poor  in  spirit"  so  far  as  the  evanescent  earthly 
treasures  are  concerned,  but  rich  in  the  more  lasting 
treasures  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven;  and  if  we  are 
not  out  and  out  materialists,  surely  this  is  a  practical 
attitude. 

It  is  not  so  long  ago  that  "caveat  emptor,"  "Let 
the  buyer  beware,"  was  the  slogan  of  the  merchants 
who  sought  after  earthly  treasures  and  regarded  the 
buyer  as  their  legitimate  prey.  When  they  had  sold 
their  wares  and  received  the  money,  it  did  not  matter 
to  them  whether  the  buyer  was  satisfied  or  not.  They 
even  prided  themselves  on  selling  an  inferior  article 
which  would  soon  wear  out,  as  evident  in  the  short- 
sighted motto,  "The  weakness  of  the  goods  is  the 
strength  of  the  trade."  But  gradually  even  people 
who  would  scorn  the  idea  of  introducing  religion  into 
their  business  are  discarding  this  caveat  emptor  as  a 
motto,  and  are  unconsciously  adapting  the  precept 
of  Christ,  "He  that  would  ~be  the  greatest  among  you, 
let  him  be  the  servant  of  all."  Everywhere  the  best 
business  men  are  insistent  in  their  claim  to  patronage 


118  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

on  the  ground  of  the  service  they  give  to  the  buyer, 
because  it  is  a  policy  that  pays,  and  may  therefore  be 
classed  as  another  of  the  practical  precepts  of  the 
Bible. 

But  it  sometimes  happens  that  in  spite  of  their  de- 
sire to  serve  their  customers,  something  goes  wrong 
and  an  angry,  dissatisfied  buyer  comes  blustering  in, 
decrying  their  goods.  Under  the  old  shortsighted 
regime  of  caveat  emptor  the  merchant  would  have 
merely  laughed  or  thrown  the  buyer  out  of  the  door. 
Not  so  the  modern  merchant,  who  takes  his  Bible  into 
business.  He  remembers  the  wisdom  of  Solomon 
that  "a  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath,"  and  the 
assertion  of  Christ  that  "the  meek  shall  inherit  the 
earth,"  so  he  apologizes  for  the  fault  in  the  goods, 
offers  restitution,  and  sends  the  erstwhile  dissatisfied 
customer  away  smiling  and  eager  to  sing  the  praises 
of  the  concern  that  treats  him  so  nicely.  Thus  by 
obeying  the  practical  precept  of  the  Bible,  keeping  his 
temper  in  meekness,  the  business  man  gains  addi- 
tional customers  who  come  to  him  in  full  faith  of  fair 
treatment,  and  the  added  profit  in  sales  made  to  them 
soon  overbalances  the  loss  on  goods  which  may  have 
caused  the  dissatisfaction  of  other  customers. 

It  pays  dividends  in  dollars  and  cents  to  keep  one's 
temper  and  be  meek;  it  pays  greater  dividends  from 
the  moral  and  spiritual  standpoints.  What  better 
business  motto  can  be  found  than  in  Ecclesiastes : 
"  Wisdom  is  better  than  weapons  of  war.  Be  not  rash 


PRACTICAL  PRECEPTS  FOR  PRACTICAL  PEOPLE  119 

in  thy  mouth,  be  not  hasty  in  thy  speech  to  be  angry, 
for  anger  resteth  in  the  bosom  of  fools."  Tact  and 
diplomacy  are  always  better  than  force;  as  the  Good 
Book  says :  ' '  If  the  iron  be  blunt  we  must  use  more 
strength,  but  wisdom  is  profitable  to  direct."  The 
line  of  least  resistance,  so  long  as  it  is  clean  and  honor- 
able, is  always  the  best.  Therefore,  "Love  your 
enemies,  do  good  to  them  that  despite  fully  use  you." 

It  is  good  practical  business  policy  to  try  to  recon- 
cile those  who  do  us  harm  lest  they  do  more;  and  it 
is  better  for  us  to  get  over  our  ill  feeling  than  to 
nurse  it,  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he 
also  reap,  and  if  we  sow  spite  and  meanness,  we 
breed  and  beget  in  others  the  same  feelings.  Further- 
more, all  these  things  will  apply  in  private  life  and  in 
social  intercourse  just  as  in  ordinary  business.  How 
many  quarrels  could  be  avoided  if  we  cultivated  the 
virtue  of  meekness  in  our  homes;  how  much  pleasure 
would  be  gained;  how  much  happiness  would  come 
into  our  lives  if  in  our  social  and  business  relations 
we  learned  to  do  unto  others  as  we  would  that  they 
should  do  unto  us  I 

There  is  no  need  for  the  great  mental  strain  that  so 
many  of  us  are  working  under  concerning  what  we 
shall  eat  and  what  we  shall  drink.  Our  Father  in 
Heaven  does  own  the  earth  and  the  fullness  thereof; 
the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills  are  His.  If  we  learn 
truly  to  cast  our  cares  upon  Him,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  way  out  of  our  difficulties  will  be  provided. 


120  GLEANINGS  OP  A  MYSTIC 

It  is  a  fact,  acknowledged  by  all  authorities  who  have 
investigated  the  subject,  that  comparatively  few  peo- 
ple die  from  lack  of  necessities  of  life,  but  a  great 
many  die  because  of  overindulgence  of  the  appetites. 
It  is  the  practical  experience  of  the  writer  and  numer- 
ous others  that  if  we  do  our  work  day  by  day  as  it 
appears  before  us,  faithfully  and  to  the  best  of  our 
ability,  the  wherewithal  for  the  morrow  will  always 
be  provided.  If  we  go  according  to  the  instruction  of 
the  Bible,  doing  all  "as  unto  the  Lord,"  it  does  not 
matter  what  line  of  honest  work  we  follow;  we  are 
then  at  the  same  time  seeking  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
But  if  we  are  only  time  servers,  working  for  fear  or 
favor,  we  cannot  expect  to  succeed  in  the  long  run; 
health,  wealth,  and  happiness  may  attend  us  for  a 
little  while,  but  outside  the  solid  foundation  of  the 
Bible  there  can  be  no  lasting  joy  in  life  and  no  real 
prosperity  in  business. 


121 


Chapter  XVI 
SOUND,  SILENCE,  AND  SOUL  GROWTH 

SINCERE  STUDENTS  of  the  Science  of  the  Soul 
are  naturally  anxious  to  grow  in  grace  that  they 
may  serve  so  much  better  in  the  Great  Work  of 
Human  Upliftment.  Being  humble  and  modest  they 
are  only  too  painfully  aware  of  their  shortcomings, 
and  frequently  while  casting  about  for  means  to  facili- 
tate progress  they  ask  themselves,  "What  hinders f" 
Some,  particularly  in  bygone  ages  when  life  was  lived 
less  intensely  than  now,  realized  that  the  everyday 
life  among  ordinary  humanity  had  many  drawbacks. 
To  overcome  these  and  further  their  soul  growth  they 
withdrew  from  the  community  to  a  monastery  or  to 
the  mountains  where  they  could  give  themselves  over 
to  the  spiritual  life  undisturbed. 

"We  know,  however,  that  that  is  not  the,  way.  It  is 
too  well  established  in  the  minds  of  most  of  our  stu- 
dents that  if  we  run  away  from  an  experience  today, 
it  will  confront  us  again  tomorrow,  and  that  the 
victor's  palm  is  earned  by  overcoming  the  world,  not 
by  running  away  from  it.  The  environment  in  which 


122  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

we  have  been  placed  by  the  Recording  Angels  was  our 
own  choice  when  we  were  at  the  turning  point  of  our 
life  cycle  in  the  Third  Heaven,  we  then  being  pure 
spirit  unblinded  by  the  matter  which  now  veils  our 
vision.  Hence  it  is  undoubtedly  the  one  that  holds 
lessons  needed  by  us,  and  we  should  make  a  serious 
mistake  if  we  tried  to  escape  from  it  altogether. 

But  we  have  received  a  mind  for  a  definite  pur- 
pose— to  reason  about  things  and  conditions  so  that 
we  may  learn  to  discriminate  between  essentials  and 
non-essentials,  between  that  which  is  designed  to 
hinder  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  us  a  virtue  by  over- 
coming it,  and  that  which  is  an  out  and  out  hindrance, 
which  jars  our  sensibilities  and  wrecks  our  nerves 
without  any  compensating  spiritual  gain.  It  will  be 
of  the  greatest  benefit  if  we  can  learn  to  differentiate 
for  the  conservation  of  our  strength,  accepting  only 
that  which  we  must  endure  for  the  sake  of  our  spir- 
itual well-being.  We  shall  then  save  much  energy 
and  have  much  more  zest  in  profitable  directions  than 
now.  The  details  of  that  problem  are  different  in 
every  life;  however,  there  are  certain  general  prin- 
ciples which  it  will  benefit  us  all  to  understand  and 
apply  in  our  lives,  and  among  them  is  the  effect  of 
silence  and  sound  on  soul  growth. 

At  first  blush  it  may  surprise  us  when  the  state- 
ment is  made  that  sound  and  silence  are  very  import- 
ant factors  in  soul  growth,  but  when  we  examine  the 
matter  we  shall  soon  see  that  it  is  not  a  far-fetched 


SOUND,  SILENCE,  AND  SOUL  GROWTH         123 

notion.  Consider  first  the  graphic  expression,  "War 
is  hell,"  and  then  call  up  in  imagination  a  war 
scene.  The  sight  is  appalling,  even  more  so  to  those 
*A  ho  see  it  with  the  undimmed  spiritual  vision  than  to 
those  who  are  limited  to  physical  sight,  for  the  latter 
can  at  least  shut  their  eyes  to  it  if  they  want  to,  but 
the  whole  horror  lies  heavily  upon  the  heart  of  the 
Invisible  Helper  who  not  only  hears  and  sees  but  feels 
in  his  own  being  the  anguish  and  pain  of  all  the  sur- 
rounding suffering*  as  Parsifal  felt  in  his  heart  the 
wound  of  Amfortas,  the  stricken  Grail  king;  in  fact, 
without  that  intensely  intimate  feeling  of  oneness  with 
the  suffering  there  could  be  no  healing  nor  help  given. 
But  there  is  one  thing  which  no  one  can  escape,  the 
terrible  noise  of  the  shells,  the  deafening  roar  of  the 
cannon,  the  vicious  spitting  of  the  machine  guns,  the 
groans  of  the  wounded,  and  the  oaths  of  a  certain 
class  among  the  participants.  We  shall  need  no 
further  argument  to  agree  that  it  is  really  a  "hellish 
noise"  and  as  subversive  of  soul  growth  as  possible. 
The  battle  field  is  the  last  place  anyone  with  a  sane 
mind  would  choose  for  the  purpose  of  soul  growth, 
though  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  much  of  this  has 
been  made  by  noble  deeds  of  self-sacrifice  there;  but 
such  results  have  been  achieved  in  spite  of  the  con- 
dition and  not  because  of  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  consider  a  church  filled  with 
the  noble  strains  of  a  Gregorian  chant  or  a  Handel 
oratorio  upon  which  the  prayers  of  the  aspiring  soul 


GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

wing  their  way  to  the  Author  of  our  Being.  That 
music  may  surely  be  termed  "heavenly"  and  the 
church  designated  as  offering  an  ideal  condition  for 
soul  growth,  but  if  we  stayed  there  permanently  to 
the  neglect  of  our  duties  we  should  be  failures  in  spite 
of  the  ideal  condition. 

There  remains,  therefore,  only  one  safe  method  for 
us,  namely,  to  stay  in  the  din  of  the  battle  field  of  the 
world,  endeavoring  to  wrest  from  even  the  most  un- 
promising conditions  the  material  of  soul  growth  by 
unselfish  service,  and  at  the  same  time  to  build  within 
our  own  inner  selves  a  sanctuary  filled  with  that  silent 
music  which  sounds  ever  in  the  serving  soul  as  a 
source  of  upliftment  above  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
earthly  existence.  Having  that  ''living  church " 
within,  being  in  fact  under  that  condition  "living 
temples,"  we  may  turn  at  any  moment  when  our  at- 
tention is  not  legitimately  required  by  temporal  af- 
fairs to  that  spiritual  house  not  made  with  hands  and 
lave  in  its  harmony.  We  may  do  that  many  times  a 
day  and  thus  restore  continually  the  harmony  that 
has  been  disturbed  by  the  discords  of  terrestial  inter- 
course. 

How  then  shall  we  build  that  temple  and  fill  it  with 
the  heavenly  music  we  so  much  desire  ?  What  will  help 
and  what  will  hinder  ?  are  the  questions  which  call  for 
a  practical  solution,  and  we  shall  try  to  make  the  an- 
swer as  plain  and  practical  as  possible,  for  this  is  a 
very  vital  matter.  The  little  things  are  particularly 


SOUND,  SILENCE,  AND  SOUL  GROWTH         125 

important,  for  the  neophyte  needs  to  take  even  the 
slightest  things  into  account.  If  we  light  a  match  in 
a  strong  wind  it  is  extinguished  ere  it  has  gained  a 
fair  start,  but  if  the  little  flame  is  laid  on  a  brush- 
heap  and  given  a  chance  to  grow  in  comparative 
calm,  a  rising  wind  will  fan  the  flame  instead  of  ex- 
tinguishing it.  Adepts  or  Great  Souls  may  remain 
serene  under  conditions  which  would  upset  the  ordi- 
nary aspirant,  hence  he  should  use  discrimination  and 
not  expose  himself  unnecessarily  to  conditions  sub- 
versive of  soul  growth;  what  he  needs  more  than 
anything  is  poise,  and  nothing  is  more  inimical  to  that 
condition  than  noise. 

It  is  undeniable  that  our  communities  are  "  Bed- 
lams," and  that  we  have  a  legitimate  right  to  escape 
some  noises  if  possible,  such  as  the  screeching  made 
by  street  cars  rounding  a  curve.  We  do  not  need  to 
live  on  such  a  corner  to  the  detriment  of  our  nerves  or 
rndeavors  at  concentration,  but  if  we  have  a  sick,  cry- 
ing child  that  requires  our  attention  day  and  night, 
it  does  not  matter  how  it  affects  our  nerves,  we  have 
no  right  in  the  sight  of  God  or  man  to  run  away  or 
neglect  it  in  order  to  concentrate.  These  things  are 
perfectly  obvious  and  produce  instant  assent,  but  the 
things  that  help  or  hinder  most  are,  as  said,  the  things 
that  are  so  small  that  they  escape  our  attention  en- 
tirely. When  we  now  start  to  enumerate  them,  they 
may  provoke  a  smile  of  incredulity,  but  if  they  are 
pondered  upon  and  practiced  they  will  soon  win  as- 


126  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

sent,  for  judged  by  the  formula  that  "by  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them,"  they  will  show  results  and 
vindicate  our  assertion  that  "Silence  is  one  of  the 
greatest  helps  in  soul  growth,"  and  should  therefore 
be  cultivated  by  the  aspirant  in  his  home,  his  personal 
demeanor,  his  walk,  his  habits,  and  paradoxical  as  it 
seems,  even  in  his  speech. 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  benefit  of  religion  that  it  makes 
people  happy,  but  the  greatest  happiness  is  usually 
too  deep  for  outward  expression.  It  fills  our  whole 
being  so  full  that  it  is  almost  awesome,  and  a  bois- 
terous manner  never  goes  together  with  that  true 
happiness  for  it  is  the  sign  of  superficiality.  The  loud 
voice,  the  coarse  laugh,  the  noisy  manner,  the  hard 
heels  that  sound  like  sledge  hammers,  the  slamming 
of  doors,  and  the  rattling  of  dishes  are  the  signatures 
of  the  unregenerate,  for  they  love  noise,  the  more  tho 
merrier,  as  it  stirs  their  desire  bodies.  For  their 
purpose  church  music  is  anathema ;  a  blaring  brass 
band  is  preferable  to  any  other  form  of  entertainment, 
and  the  wilder  the  dance,  the  better.  But  it  is  other- 
wise, or  should  be,  with  the  aspirant  to  the  higher 
life. 

When  the  infant  Jesus  was  sought  by  Herod  with 
murderous  intent,  his  only  safety  lay  in  flight,  and 
by  that  expedient  were  preserved  his  life  and  power 
to  grow  and  fulfill  his  mission.  Similarily,  when  the 
Christ  is  born  within  the  aspirant  he  can  best  pre- 
serve this  spiritual  life  by  fleeing  from  the  environ- 


SOUND,  SILENCE,  AND  SOUL  GROWTH          127 

ment  of  the  unregenerate  where  these  hindering 
things  are  practiced,  and  seek  a  place  among  others  of 
kindred  ambitions  provided  he  is  free  to  do  so ;  but  if 
placed  in  a  position  of  responsibility  to  a  family,  it 
is  his  duty  to  strive  to  alter  conditions  by  precept 
and  example,  particularly  by  example,  so  that  in  time 
that  refined,  subdued  atmosphere  which  breathes  har- 
mony and  strength  may  reign  over  the  whole  house. 
It  is  not  essential  to  the  happiness  of  children  that 
they  be  allowed  to  shout  at  the  top  of  their  voices  or 
to  race  pell-mell  through  the  house,  slamming  doors 
and  wrecking  furniture  in  their  mad  race ;  it  is  indeed 
decidedly  detrimental,  for  it  teaches  them  to  disregard 
the  feelings  of  others  in  self-gratification.  They  will 
benefit  more  than  mother  by  being  shod  with  rubber 
heels  and  taught  to  reserve  their  romps  for  outdoors 
and  to  play  quietly  in  the  house,  closing  doors  easily, 
and  speaking  in  a  moderated  tone  of  voice  such  as 
mother  uses. 

In  childhood  we  begin  to  wreck  the  nerves  that 
bother  us  in  later  years,  so  if  we  teach  our  children 
the  lesson  above  indicated,  we  may  save  them  much 
trouble  in  life  as  well  as  further  our  own  soul  growth 
now.  It  may  take  years  to  reform  a  household  of  these 
seemingly  unimportant  faults  and  secure  an  atmos- 
phere conducive  to  soul  growth,-  especially  if  the  chil- 
dren have  grown  to  adult  age  and  resent  reforms  of 
that  nature,  but  it  is  well  worth  while.  We  can  and 
must  at  least  cultivate  the  virtue  of  silence  in  ourselves, 


128  GLEANINGS  OP  A  MYSTIC 

or  our  own  soul  growth  will  be  very  small.  Perhaps  if 
we  look  at  the  matter  from  its  occult  point  of  view  in 
connection  with  that  important  vehicle,  the  vital 
body,  the  point  of  this  necessity  will  be  more  clear. 

We  know  that  the  vital  body  is  ever  storing  up 
power  in  the  physical  body  which  is  to  be  used  in  this 
4 '  School  of  Experience, ' '  and  that  during  the  day  the 
desire  body  is  constantly  dissipating  this  energy  in 
actions  which  constitute  experience  that  is  eventually 
transmuted  to  soul  growth.  So  far  so  good,  but  the 
desire  body  has  the  tendency  to  run  amuck  if  not  held 
in  with  a  tight  rein.  It  revels  in  unrestrained  motion, 
the  wilder  the  better,  and  if  unbridled  makes  the  body 
whistle,  sing,  jump,  dance,  and  do  all  the  other  un- 
necessary and  undignified  things  which  are  so  detri- 
mental to  soul  growth.  While  under  such  a  spell  of  in- 
harmony  and  discord  the  person  is  dead  to  the  spir- 
itual opportunities  in  the  physical  world,  and  at 
night  when  he  leaves  his  body  the  process  of 
restoration  of  that  vehicle  consumes  so  much  time  that 
very  little,  if  any,  time  is  left  for  work,  even  if  the 
person  has  the  inclination  to  think  seriously  of  doing 
such  work. 

Therefore  we  ought  by  all  means  to  flee  from  noises 
which  we  are  not  obliged  to  hear,  and  cultivate  per- 
sonally the  quiet  yet  kindly  demeanor,  the  modulated 
voice,  the  silent  walk,  the  unobtrusive  presence,  and 
all  the  other  virtues  which  make  for  harmony,  for 
then  the  restorative  process  is  quickly  accomplished 


SOUND,  SILENCE,  AND  SOUL  GROWTH         129 

and  we  are  free  the  major  part  of  the  night  to  work 
in  the  invisible  worlds  to  gain  more  soul  growth.  Let 
us  in  this  attempt  at  improvement  remember  to  bo 
undaunted  by  occasional  failures,  remembering  Paul's 
admonition  to  continue  in  well-doing  with  patient 
persistence. 


130 


Chapter  XVII 
THE  "MYSTERIUM  MAGNUM*'  OF  THE  ROSE  CROSS 

OCCASIONALLY  we  get  letters  from  students 
voicing  their  regret  that  they  are  alone  in  the 
study  of  the  Rosicrucian  Philosophy,  that  their  hus- 
bands, wives,  children,  or  other  relatives  are  unsym- 
pathetic or  even  antagonistic  to  the  teachings,  despite 
all  efforts  of  the  said  students  to  interest  favorably 
these  friends  and  thus  obtain  companionship  in  their 
studies,  or  at  least  freedom  to  follow  their  bent.  This 
friction  causes  them  a  certain  amount  of  unhappiness 
according  to  their  various  temperaments,  and  we  are 
asked  by  these  students  to  advise  them  how  to  over- 
come the  antagonism  and  convert  their  relatives.  This 
we  have  done  by  personal  letters  and  have  been  priv- 
ileged to  help  change  conditions  in  not  a  few  homes 
when  our  advice  has  been  followed ;  but  we  know  that 
frequently  those  who  suffer  most  acutely  are  silent, 
and  we  have  therefore  decided  to  devote  a  little  time 
to  a  discussion  of  the  subject. 

It  is  truly  said,  very  truly,  that  "a  little  knowl- 
edge is  a  dangerous  thing/'  and  this  applies  with  the 


THE  "MYSTERIUM  MAGNUM"  131 

same  force  to  the  Rosicrucian  teachings  as  to  any 
other  subject.  Therefore,  the  very  first  step  is  to  find 
out  if  you  have  enough  knowledge  to  be  on  the  saEe 
side.  So  let  me  ask  the  question :  What  is  the  Rosi- 
crucian teaching  which  you  are  so  anxious  to  have 
others  share  and  to  which  they  object?  Is  it  the  twin 
laws  of  "Causation"  and  "Rebirth?"  They  are  excel- 
lent for  explaining  a  great  many  problems  of  life,  and 
they  are  a  great  comfort  when  the  grim  reaper  ap- 
pears and  robs  our  home  of  some  one  near  and  dear. 
But  then  you  must  remember  that  there  are  many  who 
do  not  feel  the  need  of  any  explanation  whatever. 
They  are  constitutionally  as  unfit  to  apply  it  as  a  deaf 
mute  is  to  use  a  telephone.  It  is  true  that  we  work 
to  better  advantage  when  conscious  of  the  law  and  its 
purpose,  but  let  us  take  comfort  from  the  fact  that 
these  laws  work  for  good  to  all  whether  they  know 
it  or  not,  and  therefore  this  knowledge  is  not  essen- 
tial. They  will  suffer  no  great  loss  because  they  do 
not  .embrace  this  doctrine,  and  they  may  escape  the 
danger  incident  to  the  possession  of  "a  little  knowl- 
edge." 

In  India  where  these  truths  are  known  and  believed 
by  millions,  people  make  little  effort  at  material  prog- 
ress because  they  know  that  they  have  endless  time, 
and  what  they  do  not  accomplish  in  this  life  may  wait 
till  the  next  or  a  later  life.  Many  Westerners  who 
have  embraced  the  doctrine  of  rebirth  have  ceased 
to  be  useful  members  of  their  community  by  adopt- 


132  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

ing  a  life  of  indolence,  thereby  bringing  reproach  on 
these  so-called  higher  teachings.  If  your  friends  will 
have  none  of  this  teaching,  leave  them  alone.  Making 
converts  is  by  no  means  the  essential  point  of  the  Rosi- 
crucian  teaching.  The  Guardian  of  the  Gate  will  not 
examine  them  as  to  knowledge,  and  he  may  admit 
some  who  are  entirely  ignorant  of  this  matter  and 
shut  the  door  in  the  face  of  others  who  have  devoted 
their  lives  to  studying,  lecturing  on,  and  teaching 
these  laws. 

Then  if  the  doctrines  of  "  Causation "  and  "  Re- 
birth "  are  unessential,  what  about  the  complex  con- 
stitution of  Manl  Surely  it  is  essential  to  know  that 
we  are  not  merely  this  visible  body,  but  have  a  vital 
body  to  charge  it  with  energy,  a  desire  body  to  sponil 
this  force,  a  mind  to  guide  our  exertions  in  channels 
of  reason,  and  that  we  are  virgin  spirits  enmeshed  in 
a  threefold  veil  as  egos.  Is  it  not  essential  to  knew 
that  the  physical  body  is  the  material  counterpart  of 
the  Divine  Spirit,  that  the  vital  body  is  a  replica  of 
the  Life  Spirit,  and  that  the  desire  body  is  the  shadow 
of  the  Human  Spirit,  the  mind  forming  the  link  be- 
tween the  threefold  spirit  and  the  threefold  body  ? 

No,  it  is  not  essential  to  know  these  things.  Properly 
used,  this  knowledge  is  an  advantage,  but  it  may  also 
be  a  very  decided  disadvantage  in  the  case  of  those 
who  have  only  "a  little  knowledge"  in  that  direction. 
There  are  many  such  who  are  always  meditating  on 
"the  higher  self"  while  entirely  forgetful  of  the 


THE  "MYSTERIUM  MAGNUM  "  133 

many  "lower  selves"  groaning  in  misery  at  their  very 
doors.  There  are  many  who  dream  day  and  night  of 
the  time  when  they  will  take  their  daily  soul  flights 
as  "invisible  helpers"  and  ease  the  sufferings  of  the 
sick  and  sorrowful,  yet  would  not  spend  a  five  cent 
car  fare  and  an  hour 's  time  to  bring  a  poor,  friendless 
soul  in  a  city  hospital  a  flower  and  a  word  of  cheer. 
Again  I  say  that  the  Guardian  of  the  Gate  is  more 
likely  to  admit  him  who  did  what  he  could  than  him 
who  dreamed  much  and  did  nothing  to  help  his  suf- 
fering fellow  man. 

If  you  could  get  people  to  study  the  Rosicrucian 
teachings  about  death  and  the  life  after,  you  would 
feel  it  important  that  they  should  also  know  about  the 
silver  cord  remaining  unbroken  for  a  period  approxi- 
mating three  and  one-half  days  after  the  spirit  has 
left  the  body,  and  that  it  must  be  left  undisturbed 
while  the  panorama  of  its  past  life  is  being  etched  into 
the  desire  body  to  serve  as  arbiter  of  its  life  in  the 
invisible  world.  You  would  like  them  to  know  all 
about  the  spirit's  life  in  purgatory — how  the  evil  acts 
of  its  life  react  upon  it  as  pain  to  create  conscience 
and  keep  it  from  repeating  in  a  later  life  the  acts  that 
caused  the  suffering.  You  would  have  them  know 
how  the  good  acts  of  life  are  transmuted  into  virtues 
usable  in  later  lives  as  set  forth  in  our  philosophy. 

You  have  no  doubt  been  surprised  at  the  assertion 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  great  twin  laws  is  unessential. 
Probably  the  next  assertion  that  it  is  immaterial 


134  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

whether  others  learn  about  the  constitution  of  man  as 
we  know  it  may  have  scandalized  you;  and  you  will 
undoubtedly  feel  shocked  to  have  it  stated  that  the 
Rosicrucian  teachings  concerning  death  and  the  pass- 
ing of  the  spirit  into  the  unseen  worlds  are  also  com- 
paratively unnecessary  to  the  purpose  we  aim  to 
accomplish.  It  really  does  not  matter  whether  your 
relatives  understand  or  believe  in  these  teachings.  So 
far  as  your  own  passing  is  concerned,  an  earnest  re- 
quest that  they  leave  your  body  quiet  and  undisturbed 
for  the  proper  period  will  probably  be  carried  out  to 
the  letter,  for  people  have  an  almost  superstitious  re- 
gard for  such  "last  requests";  and  if  any  of  your 
friends  pass  over,  you  are  there  with  your  knowledge 
and  can  do  the  right  thing  for  them.  So  never  mind 
if  they  refuse  to  take  up  that  part  of  the  Rosicrucian 
teaching. 

But  the  student  may  say,  "If  a  knowledge  of  the 
before  mentioned  subjects  which  seems  of  such  prac- 
tical value  is  immaterial  to  advancement,  then  it 
follows  that  study  of  the  Periods,  Revolutions,  World 
Globes,  etc.,  is  entirely  so.  That  disposes  of  every- 
thing taught  in  the  "Cosmo,"  and  there  is  nothing  left 
of  the  Rosicrucian  teaching  which  we  have  embraced 
and  to  which  we  have  pinned  our  faith ! '  ' 

7s  nothing  left  ?  Yes,  indeed,  ALL  is  LEFT,  for  those 
things  mentioned  are  only  the  husks  which  you  must 
remove  to  get  at  the  meat  in  the  nut,  the  kernel  of  it 
all.  You  have  read  the  "Cosmo"  many  time?!  perhaps. 


THE  "MYSTERIUM  MAGNUM"  135 

Maybe  you  have  studied  it  and  feel  proud  of  your 
knowledge  of  the  world  mystery,  but  have  you  ever 
read  the  mystery  hidden  in  every  line?  That  is  the 
great  and  essential  teaching,  the  one  teaching  to  which 
your  friends  will  respond,  if  you  can  find  it  and  give 
it  to  them.  The  "Cosmo"  preaches  on  every  page  THE 

GOSPEL  OF  SERVICE. 

For  our  sakes  Deity  manifested  the  universe.  The 
great  creative  Hierarchies  have  all  been  and  some  of 
them  still  are  our  servants.  The  luminous  star  angels, 
whose  fiery  bodies  we  see  whirling  through  space, 
have  worked  with  us  for  ages,  and  in  due  time  Christ 
came  to  bring  us  the  spiritual  impetus  needed  at  that 
time.  It  is  also  significant  in  the  extreme  that  in  the 
parable  of  the  last  judgment  Christ  does  not  say, 
''Well  done,  thou  great  and  erudite  philosopher,  who 
knoweth  the  Bible,  the  Kabala,  the  '  Cosmo/  and  all 
the  other  mysterious  literature  which  reveals  the  intri- 
cate workings  of  nature";  but  He  says,  "Well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  servant :  *  *  *  enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  lord.  *  *  *  *  For  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat:  I  was  thirsty,  and 
ye  gave  me  drink;  *  *  *  ."  Not  one  single 
word  about  knowledge;  the  whole  emphasis  was  laid 
upon  faithfulness  and  service. 

There  is  a  deep  occult  reason  for  this :  service  builds 
the  soul  body,  the  glorious  wedding  garment  without 
which  no  man  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  the 
heavens,  occultly  termed  "The  New  Galilee,"  and  it 


136  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

does  not  matter  whether  we  are  aware  of  what  is  going 
on,  so  long  as  we  accomplish  the  work.  Moreover,  as 
the  luminous  soul  body  grows  in  and  around  a  person, 
this  light  will  teach  him  or  her  about  the  Mysteries 
without  the  need  of  books,  and  one  who  is  thus  God- 
taught  knows  more  than  all  the  books  in  the  worM 
contain.  In  due  time  the  inner  vision  will  be  opened 
and  the  way  to  the  Temple  shown.  If  you  want  to 
teach  your  friends,  no  matter  how  skeptical  they  may 
be,  they  will  believe  you  if  you  preach  the  gospel  of 
service. 

But  you  must  preach  *by  practice.  You  must  be- 
come a  servant  of  men  yourself  if  you  would  have 
them  believe  in  you.  If  you  want  them  to  follow, 
you  must  lead,  or  they  will  have  the  right  to  question 
your  sincerity.  Remember,  "ye  are  a  city  upon  a 
hill,"  and  when  you  make  professions  they  have  a 
right  to  judge  you  by  your  fruits ;  therefore  say  little, 
serve  much. 

There  are  many  who  love  to  discuss  the  harmless, 
peaceful  life  at  dinner,  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  the 
red  roast  on  the  table  and  the  cigar  in  the  mouth  dull 
the  effect.  There  are  others  who  make  a  god  of  the 
stomach  and  would  rather  study  dietetics  than  the 
Bible;  they  are  always  ready  to  buttonhole  their 
friends  and  discourse  upon  the  latest  food  fad.  I  knew 
one  man  who  was  at  the  head  of  an  esoteric  group. 
His  wife  was  antagonistic  to  occultism  and  the  meat- 
less diet.  He  forced  her  to  cook  his  vegetables  at 


THE  "MYSTERIUM  MAGNUM"  137 

home,  and  told  her  that  if  she  ever  dared  to  bring 
meat  into  hi-s  kitchen  or  contaminate  his  dishes  with 
it,  he  would  pitch  her  and  the  dishes  into  the  street, 
adding  that  if  she  must  make  a  pig  of  herself  she 
could  go  and  get  flesh  food  in  a  restaurant. 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  she  judged  the  religion 
by  the  man  and  would  have  none  of  itf  Surely  he  was 
to  blame,  being  "his  brother's  keeper,"  and  though 
this  is  an  extreme  case,  it  makes  the  lesson  more 
obvious.  It  is  to  the  everlasting  praise  of  Mahomet 
that  his  wife  became  his  first  disciple,  and  it  speaks 
volumes  for  his  kindness  and  consideration  in  the 
home.  His  is  an  example  we  should  all  do  well  to  fol- 
low if  we  would  win  our  friends  to  the  higher  life,  for 
though  all  religious  systems  differ  outwardly  tht 
kernel  of  all  is  LOVE. 


138 


Chapter  XVIII 
STUMBLING  BLOCKS 

NOT  INFREQUENTLY  the  remark  is  made  by 
people  who  have  no  sympathy  with  or  aspira- 
tions to  live  the  higher  life,  that  it  unfits  people  for 
the  world's  work.  Unfortunately  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  there  is  seeming  justification  for  the  assertion, 
though  in  reality  the  very  first  requisite  for  living 
the  higher  life  involves  an  obligation  to  comport 
oneself  irreproachably  in  dealing  with  material  mat- 
ters, for  unless  we  are  faithful  in  the  little  things,  how 
can  we  expect  to  be  trusted  with  greater  responsibili- 
ties? It  has  therefore  been  deemed  expedient  to  de- 
vote a  lesson  to  the  discussion  of  some  of  the  things 
which  act  as  stumbling  blocks  in  the  life  of  aspirants. 
In  the  Bible  story  where  the  king  sent  out  his  ser- 
vants with  invitations  to  the  feast  he  had  prepared, 
we  are  told  that  his  invitations  were  refused  on  va- 
rious grounds.  Each  one  had  material  cares,  buying, 
selling,  marrying,  therefore  they  could  not  attend  to 
the  spiritual  things,  and  such  people  we  may  say 
represent  the  greater  number  of  humanity  today,  who 


STUMBLING  BLOCKS  139 

are  too  engrossed  in  the  cares  of  the  world  to  devote 
even  a  thought  to  aspiration  in  the  higher  direction. 
But  there  are  others  who  become  so  enthusiastic  upon 
the  first  taste  of  the  higher  teachings  that  they  are 
ready  to  give  up  all  work  in  the  world,  repudiate 
every  obligation,  and  devote  their  time  to  what  they 
are  pleased  to  call  "  helping  humanity. "  They  will 
readily  admit  that  it  takes  time  to  learn  how  to  be  a 
watchmaker,  a  shoemaker,  an  engineer,  or  a  musician, 
and  they  would  not  for  a  moment  dream  of  giving  up 
their  present  material  business  to  establish  them- 
selves as  shoemaker,  watchmaker,  or  music  teacher 
just  because  they  felt  enthusiastic  about  or  inclined  to 
take  up  such  work.  They  would  know  that  lacking 
the  proper  preparation  and  training  they  would  be 
doomed  to  failure,  and  yet  they  think  that  just  be- 
cause they  have  become  enthusiastic  over  the  higher 
teachings  they  are  at  once  fitted  to  step  out  of  the 
world's  work  and  devote  their  time  to  service  similar, 
even  though  in  a  lesser  degree,  to  that  rendered  by 
the  Christ  in  His  ministry. 

One  writes  to  Headquarters :  ' '  I  have  given  up  f lesli 
eating,  and  I  long  to  live  the  ascetic  life,  far  from 
the  world's  noise  that  jars  upon  me.  I  want  to  give 
my  life  for  humanity/'  Another  says:  "I  want  to 
live  the  spiritual  life,  but  I  have  a  wife  who  needs  my 
care  and  support.  Do  you  think  I  would  be  justified 
in  leaving  her  to  help  my  fellow  men  ? ' '  Still  another 
says :  "  I  am  in  a  business  which  is  unspiritual ;  every 


140  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

day  I  must  do  things  which  are  against  my  higher 
nature,  but  I  have  a  daughter  dependent  upon  me  for 
an  education.  What  shall  I  do :  continue  or  give  up  ? " 
There  are  of  course  many  other  problems  presented 
to  us,  but  these  serve  as  fair  samples,  for  they  repre- 
sent a  class  which  is  ready  to  give  up  the  world  at  the 
slightest  word  of  encouragement,  and  rush  off  to  the 
hills  in  the  expectation  of  sprouting  wings  imme- 
diately. If  the  people  who  are  in  that  class  have  any 
ties,  they  break  them  without  a  scruple  or  a  moment 's 
consideration. 

Another  class  still  feels  some  obligation,  but  could 
be  easily  persuaded  to  repudiate  it  in  order  that  they 
might  live  what  they  call  "the  spiritual  life."  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  when  people  get  into  this  state 
of  mind,  when  they  lose  their  ambition  to  work  in  the 
world,  when  they  become  shiftless  and  neglectful  of 
their  duties,  they  merit  the  reproach  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

But  as  already  said  such  conduct  is  based  upon  a 
misunderstanding  of  the  higher  teachings  and  is  not 
at  all  sanctioned  by  the  Bible  or  the  Elder  Brothers. 

It  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction  when  a  person 
ceases  to  feed  on  flesh  because  he  feels  compassion 
for  the  suffering  of  the  animals.  There  are  many 
people  who  abstain  from  flesh  foods  for  health 's  sake, 
but  theirs  being  a  selfish  motive,  the  sacrifice  carries 
with  it  no  merit.  Where  the  aspirant  to  the  higher 
life  is  prompted  to  abstain  from  flesh  food  because  he 


STUMBLING  BLOCKS  141 

realizes  that  the  refining  influence  of  a  meatless  diet 
upon  the  body  will  aid  him  in  his  quest  by  making 
the  body  more  sensitive  to  spiritual  influences,  there 
is  no  real  merit  either.  Truly,  the  person  who  abstains 
from  flesh  foods  for  the  sake  of  health  will  be  much 
benefited,  and  the  person  who  abstains  to  make  his 
body  more  sensitive  will  also  get  his  reward  in  that 
respect,  but  from  the  spiritual  point  of  view  neither 
will  be  very  much  better.  On  the  other  hand,  who- 
ever abstains  from  flesh  food  because  he  realizes  that 
God 's  life  is  immanent  in  every  animal  just  as  in  him- 
self, that  in  the  final  analysis  God  feels  all  suffering 
felt  by  the  animal,  that  it  is  a  divine  law, ' '  Thou  shalt 
not  kill, ' '  and  that  he  must  abstain  out  of  compassion, 
this  person  is  not  only  benefited  in  health  and  by 
making  his  body  more  sensitive  to  spiritual  impacts, 
but  because  of  the  motive  which  prompts  him  he 
reaps  a  reward  in  soul  growth  immeasurably  more 
precious  than  any  other  consideration.  Therefore 
we  would  say  by  all  means  abstain  from  flesh  food, 
but  be  sure  to  do  so  prompted  by  the  right  spiritual 
motive  or  it  will  not  affect  your  spiritual  interests 
one  iota. 

When  the  enthusiast  says  that  he  wants  to  get  away 
from  the  world  and  the  noise  that  jars  upon  him  to 
live  the  ascetic  life,  it  is  truly  a  strange  idea  of  serv- 
ice. The  reason  why  we  are  here  in  this  world  is  that 
we  may  gather  experience,  which  is  then  transmuted 
into  soul  growth.  If  a  diamond  in  the  rough  were 


142  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

laid  away  in  a  drawer  for  years  and  years,  it  would 
be  no  different  than  before,  but  when  it  is  placed 
against  the  grindstone  by  the  lapidary  the  harsh 
grinding  process  removes  the  last  atom,  of  the  rough 
coating  and  brings  out  the  beautiful,  luminous  gem. 
Every  one  of  us  is  a  diamond  in  the  rough,  and  God, 
the  Great  Lapidary,  uses  the  world  as  a  grindstone 
which  rubs  off  the  rough  and  ugly  coating,  allowing 
our  spiritual  selves  to  shine  forth  and  become  lu- 
minous. The  Christ  was  a  living  example  of  this.  He 
did  not  go  away  from  the  centers  of  civilization,  but 
moved  constantly  among  the  suffering  and  the  poor, 
teaching,  healing,  and  helping  until  by  the  glorious 
service  rendered,  His  body  was  made  luminous  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  and  He  who  had  trodden 
the  Way  exhorted  His  followers  to  be  "in  the  world 
but  not  of  it."  That  is  the  great  lesson  that  every 
aspirant  has  to  learn. 

It  is  one  thing  to  go  out  in  the  mountains  where 
there  is  no  one  to  contradict  or  to  jar  upon  our  sensi- 
bilities and  keep  our  poise  there;  it  is  another  thing 
entirely  to  maintain  our  spiritual  aspirations  and 
keep  our  balance  in  the  world  where  everything  jars 
upon  us ;,  but  when  we  stay  on  this  path,  we  gain  a 
self-control  which  is  unattainable  in  any  other  man- 
ner. 

However,  though  we  are  careful  to  prepare  our  food 
well  and  to  abstain  from  flesh  eating  or  any  other 
contaminating  outward  influence,  though  we  want  to 


STUMBLING  BLOCKS  143 

get  away  to  the  mountains  to  escape  the  sordid  things 
of  city  life,  and  we  want  to  rid  ourselves  of  every 
outward  thing  that  may  prove  a  stumbling  block  to 
our  progress,  still  what  about  the  things  that  come 
from  within,  the  thoughts  we  have  in  our  minds  and 
our  mental  food?  It  will  avail  us  not  one  iota  of  good 
if  we  could  feed  our  bodies  upon  nectar  and  ambrosia, 
the  ethereal  food  of  the  gods,  when  the  mind  is  a 
charnel  house,  a  habitat  of  low  thoughts,  for  then 
we  are  only  as  whited  sepulchres,  beautiful  to  behold 
from  without  but  inwardly  full  of  a  nauseating 
stench;  and  this  mental  delinquency  can  be  main- 
tained just  as  easily  and  perhaps  it  is  even  more  apt 
to  be  maintained  in  the  solitude  of  the  mountains  or 
in  a  so-called  spiritual  retreat  than  in  a  city  where  we 
are  busy  with  the  work  of  our  vocation.  It  is  indeed  a 
true  saying  that  "an  idle  brain  is  the  devil's  work- 
shop, ' '  and  the  safest  way  to  attain  to  interior  purity 
and  cleanliness  is  to  keep  the  mind  busy  all  the  time, 
guiding  our  desires,  feelings,  and  emotions  toward 
the  practical  problems  of  life,  and  working,  each  one 
in  his  own  immediate  environment,  to  find  the  poor 
and  the  needy  that  he  may  give  them  whatever  help 
their  cases  require  and  merit.  That  class  which  has 
no  ties  of  its  own  may  profitably  make  ties  of  love 
and  friendship  with  those  who  are  loveless  and  f riend- 


Or  if  it  is  the  care  of  a  relative — wife,  daughter, 
husband,  or  anyone  else  that  claims  us,  let  us  remem 


144  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

ber  the  words  of  Christ  when  He  said,  ' '  Who  are  my 
mother  and  my  brother  ? ' '  and  answered  the  question 
by  saying,  " Those  who  do  the  will  of  my  Father." 
This  saying  has  been  misconstrued  by  some  to  mean 
that  the  Christ  repudiated  His  physical  relationships 
for  the  spiritual,  but  it  is  only  necessary  to  remember 
that  in  the  last  moments  of  His  life  on  earth  He  called 
to  Him  the  disciple  whom  He  loved  and  brought  him 
to  His  mother,  giving  him  to  her  as  a  son  and  charg- 
ing the  disciple  to  care  for  His  parent.  Love  is  the 
unifying  force  in  life,  and  according  to  the  higher 
teachings  we  are  required  to  love  our  kin,  but  also  to 
extend  our  love  natures  so  that  they  may  also  include 
everyone  else.  It  is  good  that  we  love  our  own  mother 
and  father,  but  we  should  also  learn  to  love  other 
people's  mothers  and  fathers,  sisters  and  brothers, 
for  universal  brotherhood  can  never  become  a  fact  so 
long  as  our  love  is  confined  only  to  the  family.  It 
must  be  made  all  inclusive. 

There  was  one  among  the  disciples  of  Christ  whom 
He  loved  especially,  and  following  His  example  we 
also  may  bestow  a  particular  affection  upon  certain 
ones,  though  we  ought  to  love  everyone  and  do  good 
even  to  them  that  despitefully  use  us.  These  are 
high  ideals  and  difficult  of  accomplishment  at  our 
present  stage  of  development,  but  as  the  mariner 
steers  his  ship  by  a  guiding  star  and  reaches  his  de- 
sired haven  though  never  the  star  itself,  so  also  by 
setting  our  ideals  high  we  shall  live  nobler  and  better 


STUMBLING  BLOCKS  145 

lives  than  if  we  do  not  aspire,  and  in  time  and  through 
many  births  we  shall  eventually  attain,  because  the 
inherent  divinity  in  ourselves  makes  it  imperative. 

Finally  then,  to  sum  up,  it  does  not  really  matter 
where  we  are  placed  in  life,  whether  in  a  high  station 
or  a  low.  Present  environment  with  its  opportunities 
and  limitations  is  such  as  suits  our  individual  require- 
ments as  determined  by  our  self-made  destinies  in  pre- 
vious existences.  Therefore  it  holds  for  us  the  lesson 
we  must  learn  in  order  to  progress  properly.  If  we 
have  a  wife,  a  daughter,  or  other  family  relations  to 
hold  us  to  that  environment,  they  must  be  considered 
as  part  of  what  we  have  to  reckon  with,  and  by  doing 
our  duty  to  them  we  learn  the  required  lesson.  If 
they  are  antagonistic  to  our  belief,  if  they  have  no 
sympathy  with  our  aspirations,  if  we  have  on  their 
account  to  stay  in  a  business  and  do  things  which  we 
are  not  pleased  with,  it  is  because  we  must  learn  some- 
thing from  these  things,  and  the  proper  way  for  the 
earnest  aspirant  is  to  look  conditions  squarely  in  the 
face  with  a  view  to  finding  out  just  what  it  is  that  is 
needed.  This  may  not  be  an  easy  matter.  It  may 
take  weeks,  months,  or  years  to  solve  the  problem,  but 
so  long  as  the  aspirant  applies  himself  prayerfully  to 
the  task,  he  may  be  sure  that  the  light  will  shine  some 
day,  and  then  he  will  see  what  is  required  and  why 
these  conditions  were  imposed  upon  him.  Then  hav- 
ing learned  the  lesson  or  found  out  its  purpose,  he  will 
if  he  has  the  right  spirit  prayerfully  bear  the  burden, 

10 


146  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

for  he  will  know  that  he  is  upon  the  right  road  and 
that  it  is  an  absolute  certainty  that  as  soon  as  the 
lesson  of  that  environment  has  been  learned  a  new 
way  will  be  opened  up  showing  him  the  next  step 
upon  the  path  of  progress.  Thus  the  "stumbling- 
blocks"  will  have  been  turned  into  "stepping  stones,'' 
which  would  never  have  happened  if  he  had  run 
away  from  them.  In  this  connection  we  would  quote 
the  beautiful  little  poem: 


"Let  us  not  waste  our  time  in  longing 

For  bright  but  impossible  things. 
Let  us  not  sit  supinely  waiting 

For  the  sprouting  of  angel  wings. 
Let  us  not  scorn  to  be  rush-lights, 

Everyone  can't  be  a  star, 
But  let  us  fulfill  our  mission 

By  shining  just  where  we  are. 

There  is  need  of  the  tiniest  candle 

As  well  as  the  garish  sun; 
And  the  humblest  deed  is  ennobled 

When  it  is  worthily  done. 
We  may  never  be  called  on  to  brighten 

Those  darkened  regions  afar, 
So  let  us  fulfill  our  mission 

By  shining  just  where  we  are." 


147 


Chapter  XIX 
THE  LOCK  OF  UPLIFTMENT 

HAVE  YOU  ever  seen  how  ships  going  up  a  canal 
or  river  are  lifted  from  one  level  to  another? 
It  is  a  very  interesting  and  instructive  process.  First 
the  ship  is  floated  into  a  small  enclosure  where  the 
water  level  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  lower  part  of 
the  river  where  the  ship  has  previously  been  sailing. 
Then  the  gates  of  the  enclosure  are  shut  and  the  ship 
is  cut  off  from  the  outside  world  by  the  high  walls  of 
the  lock.  It  cannot  go  back  to  the  river  without; 
even  the  light  is  dimmed  around  it,  but  above  the 
moving  clouds  or  the  bright  sunshine  are  seen  beckon- 
ing. The  ship  cannot  rise  without  assistance,  and  the 
law  of  gravitation  makes  it  impossible  for  the  water 
in  that  part  of  the  river  where  the  ship  has  been  sail- 
ing to  float  it  to  a  higher  level,  hence  no  help  may  be 
looked  for  from  that  source. 

There  are  also  gates  in  the  upper  part  of  the  lock 
which  prevent  the  waters  on  the  higher  levels  from 
rushing  into  the  lock  from  above,  otherwise  the  in- 


148  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

rushing  water  would  flood  the  lock  in  a  moment  and 
crush  the  ship  lying  at  the  bottom  level  because  acting 
in  conformity  with  that  same  law  of  gravitation.  It 
is  from  above,  nevertheless,  that  the  power  must  come 
if  the  ship  is  ever  to  be  lifted  to  the  higher  level  of 
the  river,  and  so  to  do  this  safely  a  small  stream  is 
conducted  to  the  bottom  of  the  lock,  which  lifts  the 
ship  very  slowly  and  gradually  but  safely  to  the  level 
of  the  river  above.  When  that  level  has  been  reached, 
the  upper  gates  may  be  opened  without  danger  to  the 
ship,  and  it  may  sail  forth  upon  the  expansive  bosom 
of  the  higher  waterway.  Then  the  lock  is  slowly 
emptied  and  the  water  it  contained  added  to  the 
water  at  the  lower  level,  which  is  thereby  raised  even 
if  but  slightly.  The  lock  is  then  ready  to  raise  an- 
other vessel. 

This  is,  as  said  in  the  beginning,  a  very  interesting 
and  instructive  physical  operation,  showing  how  hu- 
man skill  and  ingenuity  overcome  great  obstacles  by 
the  use  of  nature's  forces.  But  it  is  a  source  of  still 
greater  enlightenment  in  a  spiritual  matter  of  vital 
importance  to  all  who  aspire  and  endeavor  to  live  the 
higher  life,  for  it  illustrates  the  only  safe  method 
whereby  man  can  rise  from  the  temporal  to  the  spir- 
itual world,  and  it  confutes  those  false  teachers  who 
ff  r  personal  gain  play  upon  the  too  ardent  desires  of 
the  unripe,  and  who  profess  ability  to  unlock  the 
gates  of  the  unseen  worlds  for  the  consideration  of  an 
initiation  fee.  Our  illustration  shows  that  this  is  im- 


THE  LOCK  OF  UPLIFTMENT  149 

possible,  because  the  immutable  laws  of  nature  for- 
bid. 

For  the  purpose  of  elucidation  we  may  call  our 
river  the  river  of  life,  and  we  as  individuals  are  the 
ships  sailing  upon  it ;  the  lower  river  is  the  temporal 
world,  and  when  we  have  sailed  its  length  and 
breadth  for  many  lives,  we  inevitably  come  to  the  lock 
of  upliftment  which  is  placed  at  the  end.  We  may 
for  a  long  time  cruise  about  the  entrance  and  look  in, 
impelled  by  an  inner  urge  to  enter  but  drawn  by 
another  impulse  towards  the  broad  river  of  life  with- 
out. For  a  long  time  this  lock  of  upliftment  with  its 
high,  bare  walls  looks  forbidding  and  solitary,  while 
the  river  of  life  is  gay  with  bunting  and  full  of 
kindred  craft  gaily  cruising  about;  but  when  the 
inner  urge  has  become  sufficiently  intense,  it  finally 
drives  us  into  the  lock  of  upliftment,  and  it  imbues 
us  with  a  determination  not  to  go  back  to  the  river  of 
worldly  life.  But  even  at  that  stage  there  are  some 
who  falter  and  fear  to  shut  the  gate  behind  them; 
they  aspire  ardently  at  times  to  the  life  on  the  higher 
level,  but  it  makes  them  feel  less  alone  to  look  back 
upon  the  river  of  worldly  life,  and  sometimes  they 
stay  in  this  condition  for  lives,  wondering  why  they 
do  not  progress,  why  they  experience  no  spiritual 
downpouring,  why  there  is  no  uplift  in  their  lives. 
Our  illustration  makes  the  reason  very  plain ;  no  mat- 
ter how  hard  the  captain  might  beg,  the  lock  keeper 
would  never  think  of  releasing  the  stream  of  water 


150  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

from  above  until  the  gate  had  been  closed  behind  the 
ship,  for  it  could  never  lift  the  ship  an  inch  under 
such  conditions  but  would  flow  through  the  open 
gates  to  waste  in  the  lower  river.  Neither  will  the 
guardians  of  the  gates  of  the  higher  worlds  open  the 
stream  of  upliftment  for  us,  no  matter  how  hard  we 
pray,  until  we  have  shut  the  door  to  the  world  be- 
hind us,  and  shut  it  very  tight  with  respect  to  the 
lust  of  the  eyes  and  the  pride  of  life,  the  sins  that  so 
easily  beset  us  and  are  fostered  by  us  in  the  careless 
worldly  days.  We  must  shut  the  door  on  them  all 
before  we  are  really  in  a  condition  to  receive  the 
stream  of  upliftment,  but  once  we  have  thus  shut  the 
door  and  irrevocably  set  our  faces  forward,  the  down- 
pouring  begins,  slowly  but  surely  as  the  stream  of  the 
lock  keeper  which  lifts  the  vessel. 

But  having  left  the  temporal  world  with  all  its 
deeds  behind  and  having  set  his  face  towards  tho 
spiritual  worlds,  the  yearning  of  the  aspirant  becomes 
more  intense.  As  time  passes  he  feels  in  increasing 
measure  the  void  on  both  sides  of  himself.  The 
temporal  world  and  its  deeds  have  dropped  from  him 
as  a  garment;  he  may  be  bodily  in  that  world,  per- 
forming his  duties,  but  he  has  lost  interest ;  he  is  in  the 
world  but  not  of  it,  and  the  spiritual  world  where  he 
aspires  to  citizenship  seems  equally  distant.  He  is  all 
alone  and  his  whole  being  cries  and  writhes  in  pain, 
longing  for  light. 


THE  LOCK  OF  UPLIFTMENT  151 

Then  comes  the  turn  of  the  tempter:  "I  have  a 
school  of  initiation,  and  am  able  to  advance  my  pupils 
quickly  for  a  fee, ' '  or  words  to  that  effect,  but  usually 
more  subtle;  and  who  shall  blame  the  poor  aspirants 
who  fall  before  the  wiles  of  these  pretenders?  Lucky 
are  they  if,  as  is  generally  the  case,  they  are  merely 
put  through  a  ceremonial  and  given  an  empty  degree, 
but  occasionally  they  meet  one  who  has  really  dabbled 
in  magic  and  is  able  to  open  the  flood  gates  from  the 
higher  level.  Then  the  inrush  of  spiritual  power 
shatters  the  system  of  the  unfortunate  dupe  as  the 
waters  of  the  river  above  would  wreck  a  vessel  at  the 
bottom  of  the  lock  if  an  ignorant  or  malicious  person 
were  to  open  the  gates.  The  vessel  must  be  lifted 
slowly  for  safety's  sake,  and  so  must  the  aspirant  to 
spiritual  upliftment;  patience  and  unwavering  per- 
sistence in  well-doing  are  absolutely  indispensable, 
and  the  door  to  the  pleasures  of  the  world  must  be 
kept  closed.  If  that  is  done  we  shall  surely  and  cer- 
tainly accomplish  the  ascent  to  the  heights  of  the  un- 
seen world  with  all  the  opportunities  for  further  soul 
growth  there  found,  for  it  is  a  natural  process  gov- 
erned by  natural  laws,  just  as  is  the  elevation  of  a 
ship  to  the  higher  levels  of  a  river  by  a  system  of 
locks. 

But  how  can  I  stay  in  the  lock  of  upliftment  and 
serve  my  fellow  man?  If  soul  growth  comes  only  by 
service,  how  can  I  gain  by  isolation?  These  are  ques- 
tions that  may  not  unnaturally  present  themselves  to 


152  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

students.  To  answer  them  we  must  again  emphasize 
that  no  one  can  lift  another  who  is  not  himself  upon 
a  higher  level,  not  so  far  above  as  to  be  unreachable, 
but  sufficiently  close  to  be  within  grasp  of  the  reach- 
ing hand.  There  are,  alas,  too  many  who  profess  the 
higher  teachings  but  live  lives  on  the  level  with  ordi- 
nary men  and  women  of  the  world  or  even  below  that 
level.  Their  professions  make  the  higher  teachings  a 
byword  and  call  down  the  scorn  of  scoffers.  But 
those  who  live  the  higher  teachings  have  no  need  to 
profess  them  orally;  they  are  isolated  and  marked  in 
spite  of  themselves,  and  though  handicapped  by  the 
misdeeds  of  the  ' '  professors, ' '  they  do  in  time  win  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  those  about  them;  event- 
ually they  call  out  in  their  associates  the  desire  of 
emulation,  they  convert  them  in  spite  of  themselves, 
reaping  in  return  for  this  service  a  commensurate 
soul  growth. 

Now  is  the  time  of  the  year  (Christmas)  when  the 
crest  wave  of  spiritual  power  envelops  the  world.  It 
culminates  at  the  winter  solstice,  when  the  Christ  is  re- 
born into  our  planet,  and  though  hampered  by  the 
present  (from  the  limited  viewpoint)  deplorable  war 
conditions,  His  life  given  for  us  may  be  most  easily 
drawn  upon  by  the  aspirant  at  this  season  to  further 
spiritual  growth ;  therefore  all  who  are  desirous  of  at- 
taining the  higher  levels  would  do  well  to  put  forth 
special  efforts  in  that  direction  during  the  winter 
season. 


153 


Chapter  XX 

THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OP  EASTER 
PART  I 

ON  THE  MORNING  of  Good  Friday,  1857,  Rich- 
ard  Wagner,  the  master  artist  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  sat  on  the  verandah  of  a  Swiss  villa  by  the 
Zurich  Sea.  The  landscape  about  him  was  bathed  in 
most  glorious  sunshine ;  peace  and  good  will  seemed  to 
vibrate  through  nature.  All  creation  was  throbbing 
with  life;  the  air  was  laden  with  the  fragrant  per- 
fume of  budding  pine  forests — a  grateful  balm  to  a 
troubled  heart  or  a  restless  mind. 

Then  suddenly,  as  a  bolt  from  an  azure  sky,  there 
came  into  Wagner's  deeply  mystic  soul  a  remem- 
brance of  the  ominous  significance  of  that  day — the 
darkest  and  most  sorrowful  in  the  Christian  year.  It 
almost  overwhelmed  him  with  sadness,  as  he  contem- 
plated the  contrast.  There  was  such  a  marked  incon- 
gruity between  the  smiling  scene  before  him,  the 
plainly  observable  activity  of  nature,  struggling  to 
renewed  life  after  winter's  long  sleep,  and  the  death 
struggle  of  a  tortured  Savior  upon  a  cross;  between 


154  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

the  full-throated  chant  of  life  and  love  issuing  from 
the  thousands  of  little  feathered  choristers  in  forest, 
moor,  and  meadow,  and  the  ominous  shouts  of  hate 
issuing  from  an  infuriated  mob  as  they  jeered  and 
mocked  the  noblest  ideal  the  world  has  ever  known; 
between  the  wonderful  creative  energy  exerted  by 
nature  in  spring,  and  the  destructive  element  in  man, 
which  slew  the  noblest  character  that  ever  graced  our 
earth. 

While  Wagner  meditated  thus  upon  the  incon- 
gruities of  existence,  the  question  presented  itself :  13 
there  any  connection  between  the  death  of  the  Savior 
upon  the  cross  at  Easter,  and  the  vital  energy  which 
expresses  itself  so  prodigally  in  spring  when  nature 
begins  the  life  of  a  new  year? 

Though  Wagner  did  not  consciously  perceive  and 
realize  the  full  significance  of  the  connection  between 
the  death  of  the  Savior  and  the  rejuvenation  of 
nature,  he  had,  nevertheless,  unwittingly  stumbled 
upon  the  key  to  one  of  the  most  sublime  mysteries  en- 
countered by  the  human  spirit  in  its  pilgrimage  from 
clod  to  God. 

In  the  darkest  night  of  the  year,  when  earth  sleeps 
most  soundly  in  Boreas'  cold  embrace,  when  material 
activities  are  at  the  very  lowest  ebb,  a  wave  of  spir- 
itual energy  carries  upon  its  crest  the  divine  creative 
''Word  from  Heaven"  to  a  mystic  birth  at  Christmas; 
and  as  a  luminous  cloud  the  spiritual  impulse  broods 
over  the  world  that  "knew  it  not,"  for  it  "shines  in 


THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OF  EASTER  155 

the  darkness"  of  winter  when  nature  is  paralyzed 
and  speechless. 

This  divine  creative  "Word"  has  a  message  and  a 
mission.  It  was  born  to  "save  the  world,"  and  "to 
give  its  life  for  the  world."  It  must  of  necessity 
sacrifice  its  life  in  order  to  accomplish  the  rejuvena- 
tion of  nature.  Gradually  it  buries  itself  in  the  earth 
and  commences  to  infuse  its  own  vital  energy  into  the 
millions  of  seeds  which  lie  dormant  in  the  ground.  It 
whispers  *  *  the  word  of  life ' '  into  the  ears  of  beast  and 
bird,  until  the  gospel  or  good  news  has  been  preached 
to  every  creature.  The  sacrifice  is  fully  consum- 
mated by  the  time  the  sun  crosses  its  Easter (n)  nodo 
at  the  spring  equinox.  Then  the  divine  creative  Word 
expires.  It  dies  upon  the  cross  at  Easter  in  a  mystical 
sense,  while  uttering  a  last  triumphant  cry,  "It  has 
been  accomplished"  (consummatum  est). 

But  as  an  echo  returns  to  us  many  times  repeated, 
so  also  the  celestial  song  of  life  is  re-echoed  from  the 
earth.  The  whole  creation  takes  up  the  anthem.  A 
legion-tongued  chorus  repeats  it  over  and  over.  The 
little  seeds  in  the  bosom  of  Mother  Earth  commence 
to  germinate ;  they  burst  and  sprout  in  all  directions, 
and  soon  a  wonderful  mosaic  of  life,  a  velvety  green 
carpet  embroidered  with  multicolored  flowers,  replaces 
the  shroud  of  immaculate  wintry  white.  From  the 
furred  and  feathered  tribes  "the  word  of  life"  re- 
echoes as  a  song  of  love,  impelling  them  to  mate. 
Generation  and  multiplication  are  the  watchwords 


156  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

everywhere — the  Spirit  has  risen  to  more  abundant 
life. 

Thus,  mystically,  we  may  note  the  annual  birth, 
death,  and  resurrection  of  the  Savior  as  the  ebb  and 
flow  of  a  spiritual  impulse  which  culminates  at  the 
winter  solstice,  Christmas,  and  has  egress  from  the 
earth  shortly  after  Easter  when  the  "word"  "ascends 
to  Heaven"  on  Whitsunday.  But  it  will  not  remain 
there  forever.  We  are  taught  that  "thence  it  shall 
return,"  "at  the  judgment."  Thus  when  the  sun 
descends  below  the  equator  through  the  sign  of  the 
scales  in  October,  when  the  fruits  of  the  year  are 
harvested,  weighed,  and  assorted  according  to  their 
kind,  the  descent  of  the  spirit  of  the  new  year  has  its 
inception.  This  descent  culminates  in  birth  at  Christ- 
mas. 

Man  is  a  miniature  of  nature.  What  happens  on 
a  large  scale  in  the  life  of  a  planet  like  our  earth, 
takes  place  on  a  smaller  scale  in  the  course  of  human 
events.  A  planet  is  the  body  of  a  wonderfully  great 
and  exalted  Being,  one  of  the  Seven  Spirits  before 
the  Throne  (of  the  parent  sun).  Man  is  also  a  spirit 
and  "made  in  their  likeness."  As  a  planet  revolves 
in  its  cyclic  path  around  the  sun  whence  it  emanated, 
so  also  the  human  spirit  moves  in  an  orbit  around  its 
central  source — God.  Planetary  orbits,  being  ellipses, 
have  points  of  closest  approach  to  and  extreme  devia- 
tion from  their  solar  centers.  Likewise  the  orbit  of 
the  human  spirit  is  elliptical.  We  are  closest  to  God 


THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OF  EASTEB  157 

when  our  cyclic  journey  carries  us  into  the  celestial 
sphere  of  activity — heaven,  and  we  are  farthest  re- 
moved from  Him  during  earth  life.  These  changes 
are  necessary  to  our  soul  growth.  As  the  festivals  of 
the  year  mark  the  recurring  events  of  importance  in 
the  life  of  a  Great  Spirit,  so  our  births  and  deaths  are 
events  of  periodical  recurrence.  It  is  as  impossible 
for  the  human  spirit  to  remain  perpetually  in  heaven 
or  upon  earth  as  it  is  for  a  planet  to  stand  still  in  its 
orbit.  The  same  immutable  law  of  periodicity  which 
determines  the  unbroken  sequence  of  the  seasons,  the 
alternation  of  day  and  night,  the  tidal  ebb  and  flow, 
governs  also  the  progression  of  the  human  spirit,  both 
in  heaven  and  upon  earth. 

From  realms  of  celestial  light  where  we  live  in 
freedom,  untrammeled  by  limitations  of  time  and 
space,  where  we  vibrate  in  tune  with  infinite  har- 
mony of  the  spheres,  we  descend  to  birth  in  the 
physical  world  where  our  spiritual  sight  is  obscured 
by  the  mortal  coil  which  binds  us  to  this  limited 
phase  of  our  existence.  We  live  here  awhile ;  we  die 
and  ascend  to  heaven,  to  be  reborn  and  to  die  again. 
Each  earth  life  is  a  chapter  in  a  serial  life  story,  ex- 
tremely humble  in  its  beginnings,  but  increasing  in 
interest  and  importance  as  we  ascend  to  higher  and 
higher  stations  of  human  responsibility.  No  limit  is 
conceivable,  for  in  essence  we  are  divine  and  must 
therefore  have  the  infinite  possibilities  of  God  dormant 
within.  When  we  have  learned  all  that  this  world 


158  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

has  to  teach  us,  a  wider  orbit,  a  larger  sphere  of  super- 
human usefulness,  will  give  scope  to  our  greater 
capabilities. 

"Build  thee  more  stately  mansions,  0  my  Soul. 

As  the  swift  seasons  roll, 

Leave  thy  low  vaulted  past; 

Let  each  new  temple,  nobler  than  the  last, 

Shut  thee  from  heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast, 

Till  thou  at  length  art  free, 

Leaving  thine  outgrown  shell  by  life's  unresting  sea." 

Thus  says  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  comparing  the 
spiral  progression  in  the  widening  coil  of  a  chambered 
nautilus  to  the  expansion  of  consciousness  which  is 
the  result  of  soul  growth  in  an  evolving  human  being. 

"But  what  of  Christ?"  someone  will  ask.  "Don't 
you  believe  in  Him?  You  are  discoursing  upon  Easter, 
the  feast  which  commemorates  the  cruel  death  and 
glorious,  triumphant  resurrection  of  the  Savior,  but 
you  seem  to  be  alluding  to  Him  more  from  an  allegor- 
ical point  of  view  than  as  an  actual  fact. ' ' 

Certainly  we  believe  in  the  Christ;  we  love  Him 
with  our  whole  heart  and  soul,  but  we  wish  to  empha- 
size the  teaching  that  Christ  is  the  first  fruits  of  the 
race.  He  said  that  we  shall  do  the  things  He  did, 
"and  greater."  Thus  we  are  Christs-in-the-making. 


"Though  Christ  a  thousand  times  in  Bethlehem  be  born, 
And  not  within  thyself,  thy  soul  will  be  forlorn. 
The  cross  on  Golgotha  thou  lookest  to  in  vain, 
Unless  within  thyself  it  be  set  up  again." 


THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OF  EASTER  159 

Thus  proclaims  Angelus  Silesius,  with  true  mystic 
understanding  of  the  essentials  of  attainment. 

We  are  too  much  in  the  habit  of  looking  to  an  out- 
side Savior  while  harboring  a  devil  within;  but  till 
Christ  be  formed  IN  us,  as  Paul  says,  we  shall  seek  in 
vain,  for  as  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  perceive  light 
and  color,  though  they  be  all  about  us,  unless  our 
optic  nerve  registers  their  vibrations,  and  as  we  re- 
main unconscious  of  sound  when  the  tympanum  of 
our  ear  is  insensitive,  so  also  must  we  remain  blind 
to  the  presence  of  Christ  and  deaf  to  His  voice  until 
we  arouse  our  dormant  spiritual  natures  within.  But 
once  these  natures  have  become  awakened,  they  will 
reveal  the  Lord  of  Love  as  a  prime  reality;  this  on 
the  principle  that  when  a  tuning  fork  is  struck,  an- 
other of  identical  pitch  will  also  commence  to  sing, 
while  tuning  forks  of  different  pitches  will  remain 
mute  Therefore  the  Christ  said  that  His  sheep 
knew  the  sound  of  His  voice  and  responded,  but  the 
voice  of  the  stranger  they  heard  not.  (John  10:5).  No 
matter  what  our  creed,  we  are  all  brethren  of  Christ, 
so  let  us  rejoice,  the  Lord  has  risen !  Let  "S  seek  Him 
and  forget  our  creeds  and  other  lesser  differences. 


160 


Chapter  XXI 

THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OF  EASTER 
PART  II 

ONCE  MORE  we  have  reached  the  final  act  in  the 
cosmic  drama  involving  the  descent  of  the  solar 
Christ  Ray  into  the  matter  of  our  earth,  which  is 
completed  at  the  Mystic  Birth  celebrated  at  Christmas, 
and  the  Mystic  Death  and  Liberation,  which  are 
celebrated  shortly  after  the  vernal  equinox  when  the 
sun  of  the  new  year  commences  its  ascent  into  the 
higher  spheres  of  the  northern  heavens,  having  poured 
out  its  life  to  save  humanity  and  give  new  life  to 
everything  upon  earth.  At  this  time  of  the  year  a 
new  life,  an  augmented  energy,  sweeps  with  an  irre- 
sistible force  through  the  veins  and  arteries  of  all 
living  beings,  inspiring  them,  instilling  new  hope, 
new  ambition,  and  new  life,  impelling  them  to  new 
activities  whereby  they  learn  new  lessons  in  the  school 
of  experience.  Consciously  or  unconsciously  to  the 
beneficiaries,  this  outwelling  energy  invigorates  every- 
thing that  has  life.  Even  the  plant  responds  by  an 
increased  circulation  of  sap,  which  results  in  addi- 


THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OF  EASTER  161 

tional  growth  of  the  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruits  where- 
by this  class  of  life  is  at  present  expressing  itself  and 
evolving  to  a  higher  state  of  consciousness. 

But  wonderful  though  these  outward  physical  mani- 
festations are,  and  glorious  though  the  transforma- 
tion may  be  called  which  changes  the  earth  from  a 
waste  of  snow  and  ice  into  a  beautiful,  blooming 
garden,  it  sinks  into  insignificance  before  the  spir- 
itual activities  which  run  side  by  side  therewith.  The 
salient  features  of  the  cosmic  drama  are  identical  in 
point  of 'time  with  the  material  effects  of  the  sun  in 
the  four  cardinal  signs,  Aries ,  Cancer,  Libra,  and 
Capricorn,  for  the  most  significant  events  occur  at 
the  equinoctial  and  solstitial  points. 

It  is  really  and  actually  true  that  "in  God  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being. ' '  Outside  Him  we  could 
have  no  existence;  we  live  by  and  through  His  life; 
we  move  and  act  by  and  through  His  strength ;  it  is 
His  power  which  sustains  our  dwelling  place,  the 
earth,  and  without  His  unflagging,  unwavering  ef- 
forts the  universe  itself  would  disintegrate.  Now  we 
are  taught  that  man  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  God, 
and  we  are  given  to  understand  that  according  to  the 
law  of  analogy  we  are  possessed  of  certain  powers 
latent  within  us  which  are  similar  to  those  we  see  so 
potently  expressed  in  the  labor  of  Deity  in  the  uni- 
verse. This  gives  us  a  particular  interest  in  the  an- 
nual cosmic  drama  involving  the  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  the  sun.  The  life  of  the  God  Man,  Christ 

11 


162  GLEANINGS  OP  A  MYSTIC 

Jesus,  was  moulded  in  conformity  with  the  solar  story, 
and  it  foreshadows  in  a  similar  manner  all  that  may 
happen  to  the  Man  God  of  whom  this  Christ  Jesus 
prophesied  when  He  said:  The  works  that  I  do  shall 
ye  do  also ;  and  greater  works  shall  ye  do ;  whither  I 
go  thou  canst  not  follow  me  now,  but  thou  shalt  follow 
me  afterwards. 

Nature  is  the  symbolic  expression  of  God.  She 
does  nothing  in  vain  or  gratuitously,  but  there  is  a 
purpose  behind  every  thing  and  every  act.  Therefore 
we  should  be  alert  and  regard  carefully  the  signs  in  the 
heavens  for  they  have  a  deep  and  important  meaning 
concerning  our  own  lives.  The  intelligent  understand- 
ing of  their  purpose  enables  us  to  work  so  much  more 
efficiently  with  God  in  His  wonderful  efforts  for  the 
emancipation  of  our  race  from  bondage  to  the  laws  of 
nature,  and  for  its  liberation  into  a  full  measure  of 
the  stature  of  the  sons  of  God — crowned  with  glory, 
honor,  and  immortality,  and  free  from  the  power  of 
sin,  sickness,  and  suffering  which  now  curtail  our 
lives  by  reason  of  our  ignorance  and  nonconformity 
to  the  laws  of  God.  The  divine  purpose  demands  this 
emancipation,  but  whether  it  is  to  be  accomplished  by 
the  long  and  tedious  process  of  evolution  or  by  the 
immensely  quicker  pathway  of  Initiation  depends 
upon  whether  or  not  we  are  willing  to  lend  our  co- 
operation. The  majority  of  mankind  go  through  life 
with  unseeing  eyes  and  with  ears  that  do  not  hear. 
They  are  engrossed  in  their  material  affairs,  buying 


THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OF  EASTER  163 

and  selling1,  working  and  playing,  without  an  ade- 
quate understanding  or  appreciation  of  the  purpose 
of  existence,  and  were  it  unfolded  to  them  it  is  scarcely 
to  be  expected  that  they  would  conform  and  co-oper- 
ate because  of  the  sacrifice  it  involves. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  Christ  appeals  particularly 
to  the  poor  and  that  He  emphasizes  the  difficulty  of 
the  rich  entering  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  for  even  to 
this  day  when  humanity1  has  advanced  in  the  school 
of  evolution  for  two  millenia  since  His  day,  we  find 
that  the  great  majority  still  value  their  houses  and 
lands,  their  pretty  hats  and  gowns,  the  pleasures  of 
society,  dances,  and  dinners  more  than  the  treasures 
of  heaven  which  are  garnered  by  service  and  self- 
sacrifice.  Although  they  may  intellectually  perceive 
the  beauty  of  the  spiritual  life,  its  desirability  fades 
into  insignificance  in  their  eyes  when  compared  with 
the  sacrifice  involved  in  attaining.  Like  the  rich 
young  man  they  would  willingly  follow  Christ  were 
there  no  such  sacrifice  involved.  They  prefer  rather 
to  go  away  when  they  realize  that  sacrifice  is  the  one 
condition  upon  which  they  may  enter  discipleship.  So 
for  them  Easter  is  simply  a  season  of  joy  because  it  is 
the  end  of  winter  and  the  beginning  of  the  summer 
season  with  its  call  of  outdoor  sports  and  pleasures. 

But  for  those  who  have  definitely  chosen  the  path 
of  self-sacrifice  that  leads  to  Liberation,  Easter  is  the 
annual  sign  given  them  as  evidence  of  the  cosmic  basis 
of  their  hopes  and  aspirations.  As  Paul  properly  states 


164  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

in  that  glorious  fifteenth  chapter  of  1st  Corinthians, 
"If  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain, 
and  your  faith  is  also  vain. 

''Yea,  and  we  are  found  false  witnesses  of  God,  be- 
cause we  have  testified  of  God  that  He  raised  up 
Christ,  whom  He  raised  not  up  if  so  be  that  the  dead 
rise  not. 

"For  if  the  dead  rise  not,  then  is  not  Christ  raised. 

"And  if  Christ  be  not  raised  your  faith  is  vain;  ye 
are  yet  in  your  sins. 

"  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are 
of  all  men  most  miserable. 

"If  after  the  manner  of  men  I  have  fought  with 
beasts  at  Ephesus,  what  advantageth  it  me  if  the  dead 
rise  not? 

"But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  be- 
come the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept. ' ' 

But  in  the  Easter  sun  which  at  the  vernal  equinox 
commences  to  soar  into  the  northern  heavens  after 
having  laid  down  its  life  for  the  earth,  we  have  the 
cosmic  symbol  of  the  verity  of  resurrection.  When 
taken  as  a  cosmic  fact  in  connection  with  the  law  of 
analogy  that  connects  the  macrocosm  with  the  micro- 
cosm, it  is  an  earnest  that  some  day  we  shall  all  attain 
the  cosmic  consciousness  and  know  positively  for  our- 
selves by  our  own  experience  that  there  is  no  death, 
but  that  what  seems  so  is  only  a  transition  into  a  finer 
sphere. 


THE  COSMIC  MEANING  OF  EASTER  165 

It  is  an  annual  symbol  to  strengthen  our  souls  in 
the  work  of  well-doing  that  we  may  grow  the  golden 
wedding  garment  required  to  make  us  sons  of  God  in 
the  highest  and  holiest  sense.  It  is  literally  true  that 
unless  we  walk  in  the  light  as  God  is  in  the  light,  we 
are  not  in  fellowship ;  but  by  making  the  sacrifices  and 
rendering  the  services  required  of  us  to  aid  in  the 
emancipation  of  our  race  we  are  building  the  soul 
body  of  radiant  golden  light  which  is  the  special  sub- 
stance emanated  from  and  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Sun, 
the  Cosmic  Christ.  When  this  golden  substance  has 
clothed  us  with  sufficient  density,  then  we  shall  be 
able  to  imitate  the  Easter  sun  and  soar  into  the  higher 
spheres. 

"With  these  ideals  firmly  fixed  in  our  minds,  Easter 
time  becomes  a  season  when  it  is  in  order  to  review 
our  life  during  the  preceding  year  and  make  new 
resolutions  for  the  coming  season  to  serve  in  further- 
ing our  soul  growth.  It  is  a  season  when  the  symbol 
of  the  ascending  sun  should  lead  us  up  to  a  keen 
realization  of  the  fact  that  we  are  but  pilgrims  and 
strangers  upon  earth,  that  our  real  home  as  spirits  is 
in  heaven,  and  that  we  ought  to  endeavor  to  learn 
the  lessons  in  this  life  school  as  quickly  as  is  consistent 
with  proper  service,  so  that  as  Easter  Day  marks  the 
resurrection  and  liberation  of  the  Christ  Spirit  from 
the  lower  realms,  so  we  also  may  continually  look  for 
the  dawn  of  that  day  which  shall  permanently  free 
us  from  the  meshes  of  matter,  from  the  body  of  sin 


166  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

and  death,  together  with  our  brethren  in  bondage, 
for  no  true  aspirant  would  conceive  of  a  liberation 
that  did  not  include  all  who  were  similarly  placed. 

This  is  a  gigantic  task ;  the  contemplation  of  it  may 
well  daunt  the  bravest  heart,  and  were  we  alone  it 
could  not  be  accomplished;  but  the  divine  hierarchies 
who  have  guided  humanity  upon  the  path  of  evolu- 
tion from  the  beginning  of  our  career  are  still  active 
and  working  with  us  from  their  sidereal  worlds,  and 
with  their  help  we  shall  eventually  be  able  to  accom- 
plish this  elevation  of  humanity  as  a  whole  and  attain 
to  an  individual  realization  of  glory,  honor,  and  im- 
mortality. Having  this  great  hope  within  ourselves, 
this  great  mission  in  the  world,  let  us  work  as  never 
before  to  make  ourselves  better  men  and  women,  so 
that  by  our  example  we  may  waken  in  others  a  desire 
to  lead  a  life  that  brings  liberation. 


167 


Chapter  XXII 
THE  NEWBORN  CHRIST 

IT  HAS  OFTEN  been  said  in  our  literature  that  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  was  not  an  event  which,  taking 
place  on  Golgotha,  was  accomplished  in  a  few  hours 
once  and  for  all  time,  but  that  the  mystic  births  and 
deaths  of  the  Redeemer  are  continual  cosmic  occur- 
rences. We  may  therefore  conclude  that  this  sacrifice 
is  necessary  for  our  physical  and  spiritual  evolution 
during  the  present  phase  of  our  development.  As  the 
annual  birth  of  the  Christ  Child  approaches,  it  pre- 
sents a  never  old,  ever  new  theme  for  meditation,  from 
which  we  may  profit  by  pondering  it  with  a  prayer 
that  it  may  create  in  our  hearts  a  new  light  to  guide 
us  upon  the  path  of  regeneration. 

The  inspired  apostle  gave  us  a  wonderful  definition 
of  Deity  when  he  said  that  "God  is  Light,"  and 
therefore  "light"  has  been  used  to  illustrate  the 
nature  of  the  Divine  in  the  Rosicrucian  teachings, 
especially  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity.  It  is 
clearly  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  all  times 
that  God  is  one  and  indivisible.  At  the  same  time  we 


168  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

find  that  as  the  one  white  light  is  refracted  into 
three  primary  colors,  red,  yellow,  and  blue,  so  God 
appears  in  a  threefold  role  during  manifestation  by 
the  exercise  of  the  three  divine  functions  of  creation, 
preservation,  and  dissolution. 

When  He  exercises  the  attribute  of  creation,  God 
appears  as  Jehovah,  the  Holy  Spirit ;  He  is  then  Lord 
of  law  and  generation  and  projects  the  solar  fertiliz- 
ing principle  indirectly  through  the  lunar  satellites 
of  all  planets  where  it  is  necessary  to  furnish  bodies 
for  their  evolving  beings. 

When  He  exercises  the  attribute  of  preservation 
for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  the  bodies  generated  by 
Jehovah  under  the  laws  of  nature,  God  appears  as  the 
Redeemer,  Christ,  and  radiates  the  principles  of  love 
and  regeneration  directly  into  any  planet  where  the 
creatures  of  Jehovah  require  this  help  to  extricate 
themselves  from  the  meshes  of  mortality  and  egotism 
in  order  to  attain  to  altruism  and  endless  life. 

When  God  exercises  the  divine  attribute  of  dissolu- 
tion, He  appears  as  The  Father  who  calls  us  back  to 
our  heavenly  home  to  assimilate  the  fruits  of  expe- 
rience and  soul  growth  garnered  by  us  during  the  day 
of  manifestation.  This  Universal  Solvent,  the  ray  of 
the  Father,  emanates  from  the  Invisible  Spiritual 
Sun. 

These  divine  processes  of  creation  and  birth, 
preservation  and  life,  and  dissolution,  death  and  re- 
turn to  the  Author  of  our  being  we  see  everywhere 


THE  NEWBORN  CHRIST  169 

about  us,  and  we  recognize  the  fact  that  they  are 
activities  of  the  Triune  God  in  manifestation.  But 
have  we  ever  realized  that  in  the  spiritual  world  there 
are  no  definite  events,  no  static  conditions;  that  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  all  adventures  of  all  ages 
are  present  in  the  eternal  "here"  and  "now?"  From 
the  bosom  of  the  Father  there  is  an  everlasting  out- 
welling  of  the  essence  of  things  and  events,  which 
enters  the  realms  of  "time"  and  "space."  There  it 
gradually  crystallizes  and  becomes  inert,  necessitating 
dissolution  that  there  may  be  room  for  other  things 
and  other  events. 

There  is  no  escape  from  this  cosmic  law;  it  applies 
to  everything  in  the  realm  of  time  and  space,  the 
Christ  ray  included.  As  the  lake  which  empties  itself 
into  the  ocean  is  replenished  when  the  water  that  left 
it  has  been  evaporated  and  returns  to  it  as  rain,  to 
flow  again  ceaselessly  toward  the  sea,  so  the  Spirit  of 
Love  is  eternally  born  of  the  Father,  day  by  day, 
hour  by  hour,  endlessly  flowing  into  the  solar  universe 
to  redeem  us  from  the  world  of  matter  which  en- 
meshes us  in  its  death  grip.  Wave  upon  wave  is  thus 
impelled  outward  from  the  sun  to  all  the  planets, 
giving  a  rhythmic  urge  to  the  evolving  creatures  there. 

And  so  it  is  in  the  very  truest  and  most  literal  sense 
a  newborn  Christ  that  we  hail  at  each  approaching 
Yule-feast,  and  Christmas  is  the  most  vital  annual 
event  for  all  humanity  whether  we  realize  it  or  not. 
It  is  not  merely  a  commemoration  of  the  birth  of  our 


170  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

beloved  Elder  Brother,  Jesus,  but  the  advent  of  the 
rejuvenating  love  life  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  sent 
by  Him  to  redeem  the  world  from  the  wintry  death 
grip.  Without  this  new  infusion  of  divine  life  and 
energy  we  should  soon  perish  physically,  and  our 
orderly  progress  would  be  frustrated  so  far  as  our 
present  lines  of  development  are  concerned.  This 
is  a  point  we  should  endeavor  to  realize  thoroughly  in 
order  that  we  may  learn  to  appreciate  Christmas  as 
keenly  as  we  should. 

We  may  learn  a  lesson  in  this  respect  as  in  many 
others  from  our  children  or  from  reminiscences  of  our 
own  childhood.  How  keen  were  our  anticipations  of 
the  approaching  feast !  How  eagerly  we  waited  for  the 
hour  when  we  should  receive  the  gifts  which  we  knew 
would  be  forthcoming  from  Santa  Glaus,  the  mys- 
terious universal  benefactor  who  brought  the  toys  for 
the  coming  year !  How  would  we  have  felt  had  our 
parents  given  us  the  dismembered  dolls  and  broken 
drums  of  yesteryear  ?  It  would  surely  have  been  felt  as 
an  overwhelming  misfortune  and  would  have  left  a 
deep  sense  of  broken  trust  which  even  time  would  have 
found  it  difficult  to  heal ;  yet  it  would  have  been  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  cosmic  calamity  that  would 
befall  mankind  if  our  Heavenly  Father  should  fail  to 
provide  the  newborn  Christ  for  our  cosmic  Christmas 
gift. 

The  Christ  of  last  year  cannot  save  us  from  physical 
famine  any  more  than  last  year's  rain  can  drench  the 


THE  NEWBORN  CHRIST  171 

soil  again  and  swell  the  millions  of  seeds  that  slumber 
in  the  earth  awaiting  the  germinal  activities  of  the 
Father 's  life  to  begin  their  growth ;  the  Christ  of  last 
year  cannot  kindle  anew  in  our  hearts  the  spiritual 
aspirations  which  urge  us  onward  in  the  Quest  any 
more  than  last  summer 's  heat  can  warm  us  now.  The 
Christ  of  last  year  gave  us  His  love  and  His  life  to 
the  last  breath  without  stint  or  measure ;  when  He  was 
born  into  the  earth  last  Christmas,  he  endued 
with  life  the  sleeping  seeds  which  have  grown  and 
gratefully  filled  our  granaries  with  the  bread  of 
plrpsical  life ;  He  lavished  the  love  given  Him  by  the 
Father  upon  us,  and  when  He  had  wholly  spent  His 
life,  He  died  at  Eastertide  to  rise  again  to  the  Father, 
as  the  river  by  evaporation  rises  to  the  sky. 

But  endlessly  wells  the  divine  love;  as  a  father 
pities  his  children,  so  does  our  Heavenly  Father  pity 
us,  for  He  knows  our  physical  and  spiritual  frailty  and 
dependence.  Therefore  we  are  now  confidently  await- 
ing the  mystic  birth  of  the  Christ  of  another  year, 
laden  with  new  life  and  love  sent  by  the  Father  to  pre- 
serve us  from  the  physical  and  spiritual  famine  which 
would  ensue  were  it  not  for  this  annual  love  offering. 

Younger  souls  usually  find  it  difficult  to  disabuse 
their  minds  of  the  personality  of  God,  of  Christ,  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  some  can  only  love  Jesus,  the 
man.  They  forget  Christ,  the  Great  Spirit,  who 
ushered  in  a  new  era  in  which  the  nations  established 
under  the  regime  of  Jehovah  will  be  broken  to  pieces 


172  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

that  the  sublime  structure  of  Universal  Brotherhood 
may  be  built  upon  their  ruins.  In  time  all  the  world 
will  realize  that  "God  is  spirit,  to  be  worshiped  in 
spirit  and  in  truth."  It  is  well  to  love  Jesus  and  to 
imitate  him;  we  know  of  no  nobler  ideal  and  none 
more  worthy.  Could  a  nobler  one  have  been  found, 
Jesus  would  not  have  been  chosen  as  a  vehicle  of  that 
Great  One,  the  Christ,  in  whom  dwelt  the  Godhead. 
We  shall  therefore  do  well  to  follow  ' '  in  His  steps. ' ' 

At  the  same  time  we  shall  exalt  God  in  our  own 
consciousness  by  taking  the  word  of  the  Bible  that 
He  is  spirit,  and  that  we  cannot  make  any  likeness 
which  will  portray  Him  for  He  is  like  nothing  in 
heaven  or  on  earth.  We  can  see  the  physical  vehicles 
of  Jehovah  circling  as  satellites  around  the  various 
planets;  we  can  also  see  the  sun,  which  is  the  visible 
vehicle  of  the  Christ;  but  the  Invisible  Sun,  which  is 
the  vehicle  of  the  Father  and  the  source  of  all,  ap- 
pears to  the  greatest  of  human  seers  only  as  a  higher 
octave  of  the  photosphere  of  the  sun,  a  ring  of  violet- 
blue  luminosity  behind  the  sun.  But  we  do  not  need 
to  see ;  we  can  feel  His  love,  and  that  feeling  is  never 
so  great  as  at  Christmas  time  when  He  is  giving  us  the 
greatest  of  all  gifts,  the  Christ  of  the  new  year. 


173 


Chapter  XXIII 
WHY  I  AM  A  ROSICRUCIAN 

NOT  INFREQUENTLY  we  find  that  some  one 
takes  the  platform  to  explain  why  he  is  a  Bap- 
tist, Methodist,  or  Christian  Scientist,  and  what  his 
particular  faith  may  be.  We  have  often  been  asked 
by  our  students  for  something  which  would  help  make 
plain  to  their  associates  why  they  had  embraced  the 
teachings  of  the  Elder  Brothers  given  through  the 
Rosicrucian  Fellowship,  in  preference  to  the  faith 
which  they  had  left.  We  will,  therefore,  endeavor  to 
give  a  succinct  resume  of  reasons  which  appeal  to  us 
as  sufficient,  but  students  will  doubtless  find  many 
other  reasons  equally  good  or  better,  which  they  may 
add  verbally  to  what  is  here  said. 

It  should  be  made  clear  in  the  very  beginning  that 
students  in  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship  do  not  call 
themselves  Rosicrucians.  That  title  applies  alone  to 
the  Elder  Brothers,  who  are  the  hierophants  of  the 
Western  Wisdom  Teaching.  They  are  as  far  beyond 
the  greatest  living  saint  in  spiritual  development  as 
that  saint  is  above  the  lowest  fetish  worshiper. 


174  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

When  the  bark  of  our  life  sails  lightly  upon  smooth 
summer  seas,  wafted  along  by  the  fair  winds  of  health 
and  prosperity,  when  friends  are  present  on  every 
hand,  eager  to  help  us  plan  pleasures  which  will  in- 
crease our  enjoyment  of  this  world's  goods,  when 
social  favors  or  political  powers  come  to  us  to  gratify 
our  every  wish  in  whatever  sphere  our  inclinations 
seek  expression,  then,  indeed,  we  may  say  and  seem 
justified  in  saying  with  our  whole  heart  and  soul: 
"This  world  is  good  enough  for  me."  But  when  we 
come  to  the  end  of  the  smiling  sea  of  success ;  when 
the  whirlwind  of  adversity  has  blown  us  upon  the 
rocky  shores  of  disaster,  and  a  wave  of  suffering 
threatens  to  engulf  us;  when  friends  have  failed  and 
every  human  help  is  as  far  off  as  it  is  unavailing, 
then  we  must  look  for  guidance  to  the  skies  as  does 
the  mariner  when  he  steers  his  ship  over  the  waste  of 
waters. 

But  when  the  skipper  scans  the  sky  in  search  of  a 
star  whereby  to  steer  the  ship  safely,  he  finds  that  the 
whole  heavens  are  in  motion.  Therefore  to  follow  al- 
most any  one  of  the  myriad  of  wandering  stars  visible 
to  the  eye  would  be  disastrous.  To  meet  the  require- 
ments the  guiding  star  must  be  perfectly  steadfast 
and  immovable,  and  there  is  only  one  such,  namely, 
the  North  Star.  By  its  guiding  light  the  mariner  may 
steer  in  full  confidence  and  bring  his  ship  to  a  haven 
of  rest  and  safety.  Likewise  one  who  is  looking  for  a 
guide  which  he  may  trust  in  days  of  sorrow  and 


WHY  I  AM  A  KOSICEUCIAN  175 

trouble  should  embrace  a  religion  founded  on  eternal 
laws  and  immutable  principles,  able  to  explain  the 
mystery  of  life  in  a  logical  manner  so  that  his  intel- 
lect may  be  satisfied,  and  at  the  same  time  contain- 
ing a  system  of  devotion  that  may  satisfy  the  heart, 
so  that  these  twin  factors  in  life  may  receive  equal 
satisfaction.  Only  when  man  has  a  clear  intellectual 
conception  of  the  scheme  of  human  development  is  he 
in  a  position  to  range  himself  in  line  therewith.  When 
it  is  made  clear  to  him  that  this  scheme  is  beneficent 
and  benevolent  in  the  very  highest  degree,  that  all  is 
truly  ruled  by  divine  love,  then  this  understanding 
will  sooner  or  later  call  out  in  him  a  true  devotion  and 
heartfelt  acquiescence  which  will  awaken  in  him  a  de- 
sire to  become  a  co-worker  with  God  in  the  world's 
work. 

When  seeking  souls  come  to  the  door  of  the  church 
to  seek  surcease  from  sorrow,  they  cannot  be  satisfied 
with  the  platitudes  that  it  is  the  will  of  God  that 
sorrow  and  suffering  have  come  to  them,  that  in  His 
divine  providence  He  has  seen  fit  to  scourge  them, 
and  that  they  must  take  it  as  an  indication  that  He 
regards  them  as  His  beloved  children  and  be  satisfied 
no  matter  what  happens.  They  cannot  see  that  Deity 
does  justice  when  He  makes  some  rich  and  many  poor, 
a  few  healthy  and  many  sickly;  and  it  is  only  too 
often  in  evidence  that  iniquity  is  prosperous  while 
rectitude  is  in  rags. 


176  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

The  Rosicrucian  teachings  give  clear  and  logical 
information  concerning  the  world  and  man;  they  in- 
vite questions  instead  of  discouraging  them,  so  that  the 
seeker  after  spiritual  truth  may  receive  full  satisfac- 
tion intellectually;  their  explanations  are  strictly 
scientific  as  they  are  reverently  religious.  They  refer 
us  for  information  regarding  life's  problems  to  laws 
that  are  as  unchangeable  and  immutable  in  their 
realm  of  action  as  the  North  Star  is  in  the  heavens. 

Though  the  world  whirls  upon  its  axis  at  the  rate  of 
one  thousand  miles  an  hour,  we  stand  safely  any- 
where upon  its  surface  because  the  principle  of  grav- 
ity prevents  us  from  being  hurled  into  space  by  the 
terrific  speed.  We  know  that  the  law  of  gravity  is 
eternal;  it  will  not  act  today  and  suspend  action  to- 
morrow. When  we  enter  a  hydraulic  elevator  we  rest 
safely  upon  a  column  of  water  because  that  fluid  is 
more  incompressible  than  most  solids,  and  this  prop- 
erty is  the  same  yesterday,  today,  and  forever.  Were 
its  action  suspended  for  even  a  few  moments,  thous- 
ands of  people  would  fall  to  their  death;  but  it  is 
steadfast  and  sure,  therefore  we  trust  it  implicitly. 

The  law  of  cause  and  effect  is  also  immutable ;  if  we 
throw  a  stone  into  the  air,  the  act  is  not  complete  until 
by  gravitation  it  has  returned  to  earth.  "Whatsoever  a 
man  soiveth,  that  shall  he  also  reap,"  is  the  way  this 
law  is  expressed  in  the  realm  of  morals.  ''The  mills 
of  God  grind  slowly,  but  they  grind  exceeding  small, ' ' 
and  once  an  act  has  been  done,  the  reaction  will  come 


I  AM  A  ROSICRUCIAN  177 


some  time,  some  where,  as  surely  as  the  stone  that 
was  thrown  into  the  air  will  return  to  the  earth. 

But  it  is  manifest  that  all  of  the  causes  that  we  set 
going  in  life  do  not  ripen  in  the  present  existence,  and 
it  therefore  follows  that  they  must  find  their  fruition 
somewhere  else  at  some  other  time,  or  the  law  would  be 
invalidated,  a  proposition  that  would  be  as  absolutely 
impossible  as  that  the  law  of  gravitation  could  be  sus- 
pended, for  either  would  make  chaos  out  of  cosmos. 
The  Rosicrucian  teachings  explain  this  by  a  statement 
that  man  is  a  spirit  attending  the  School  of  Life  for  the 
purpose  of  unfolding  latent  spiritual  power,  and  that 
for  this  purpose  he  lives  many  lives  in  earthly  bodies 
of  increasingly  finer  texture,  which  enable  him  to  ex- 
press himself  better  and  better.  In  the  lower  grades 
of  this  school  of  evolution  man  has  few  faculties. 
Each  life-day  he  comes  to  school  in  the  morning  of 
childhood,  and  is  given  lessons  to  learn,  and  at  night 
when  old  and  gray  the  nurse  maid  of  nature,  '  '  Death,  '  ; 
puts  him  to  sleep  that  he  may  rest  from  his  labors  until 
the  dawn  of  another  life-day,  when  he  is  given  a  new 
child  body  and  new  lessons.  Each  day  '  l  Experience,  " 
the  teacher  of  the  school  helps  him  to  learn  some  of  the 
lessons  of  life,  and  gradually  he  becomes  more  and 
more  proficient.  Some  day  he  will  have  learned  the 
entire  curriculum  of  the  school,  which  includes  build- 
ing of  bodies  as  well  as  using  them. 

Thus  when  we  see  one  who  has  few  faculties,  we 
know  that  he  is  a  young  soul  who  has  gone  to  life's 

12 


178  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

school  only  a  few  days ;  and  when  we  find  a  beautiful 
character,  we  recognize  an  old  soul  who  has  spent 
much  time  in  mastering  its  lessons.  Therefore  we  do 
not  despair  of  God 's  love  when  we  see  the  inequalities 
of  life,  for  we  know  that  in  time  all  will  be  perfect 
as  our  Father  in  Heaven  is  perfect. 

The  Rosicrucian  teachings  also  take  the  sting  of  sor- 
row out  of  the  greatest  of  all  trials,  the  loss  of  loved 
ones,  even  if  they  have  been  what  is  called  wayward 
or  black  sheep ;  for  we  know  that  it  is  an  actual  fact 
that  in  God  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being ; 
hence,  if  one  single  soul  were  lost,  a  part  of  God  would 
be  lost,  and  such  a  proposition  is  absolutely  impossible. 
Under  the  immutable  law  of  cause  and  effect  we  are 
bound  to  meet  these  loved  ones  some  time  in  the  future 
under  other  circumstances,  and  there  the  love  that 
binds  us  together  must  continue  until  it  has  found  its 
fullest  expression.  The  laws  of  nature  would  be 
violated  if  a  stone  thrown  from  the  earth  were  to  re- 
main suspended  in  the  atmosphere,  and  under  the 
same  immutable  laws  those  who  pass  into  the  higher 
spheres  must  return.  Christ  said,  "Ye  must  be  born 
again,"  and  "If  I  go  to  my  Father,  I  will  return." 

But  although  our  reason  may  reach  into  the  mys- 
teries of  life,  there  is  still  a  higher  stage,  actual  first- 
hand knowledge.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  foregoing 
propositions  are  capable  of  verification  by  each  one, 
for  we  all  have  a  sixth  sense  latent  in  our  being,  which 
will  sometime  enable  us  to  view  the  spiritual  world 


WHY  I  AM  A  ROSICRUCIAN  179 

with  the  same  distinctness  as  that  with  which  we  see 
the  temporal.  This  sixth  sense  will  be  developed  by 
all  in  the  course  of  evolution,  and  there  are  certain 
means  whereby  it  may  be  developed  now  by  all  who 
care  to  take  the  necessary  time  and  trouble  to  do  so. 
Some  have  done  this,  and  they  have  told  us  of  their 
travels  in  the  land  of  the  soul.  We  believe  their  testi- 
mony concerning  that  place  just  as  we  believe  what 
people  who  have  traveled  in  Africa  or  Australia  tell 
us  of  those  countries.  And  just  as  we  say  that  we 
know  the  earth  rotates  upon  its  axis  and  revolves  in 
its  orbit  around  the  sun  because  we  have  been  thus  in- 
formed by  scientists  who  have  made  the  investiga- 
tions and  calculations  that  establish  these  facts,  so 
also  we  say  that  we  knmv  the  dead  live,  and  that 
whether  dead  or  alive,  in  the  body  or  out  of  it,  we  are 
all  enfolded  in  the  love  of  our  Father  in  Heaven,  with- 
out whose  Will  not  the  smallest  sparrow  falls  to  the 
ground,  and  that  He  cares  for  all  and  orders  our  steps 
in  harmony  with  His  plans  to  develop  our  spiritual 
powers  to  the  highest  possible  degree. 

So  because  of  the  logical,  soul-satisfying  philosophy 
of  life  given  by  the  Rosicrucians,  we  follow  their 
teachings  in  preference  to  other  systems,  and  invite 
others  who  wish  to  share  the  blessings  thereof  to  in- 
vestigate. 


180 


Chapter  XXIV 
THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  EOSICRUCIAN  FELLOWSHIP 

THE  OBJECT  of  the  Rosier ucian  Fellowship  has 
been  clearly  stated  in  our  literature,  as  have  the 
means  whereby  it  is  hoped  to  attain  the  end  in  view, 
but  in  response  to  requests  for  a  succinct  summary  we 
devote  this  chapter  to  that  subject. 

The  world  is  God's  training  school.  During  the 
past  we  have  learned  to  build  different  vehicles, 
among  others  the  physical  body.  By  this  work  we  are 
promoted  from  class  to  class,  each  with  its  particular 
scope  of  consciousness.  We  evolved  eyes  that  we 
might  see,  ears  that  we  might  hear,  and  other  organs 
that  we  might  taste,  smell,  and  feel.  But  not  all  egos 
were  promoted  at  every  step.  When  the  mist  in  the 
air  at  the  time  of  Atlantis  condensed  and  filled  the 
basins  of  the  earth  with  oceans  of  water,  driving  men 
to  the  highlands,  many  perished  by  asphyxiation  be- 
cause they  had  not  evolved  lungs.  They  could  not 
pass  through  the  portal  of  the  rainbow,  which  was, 
so  to  speak,  the  entrance  gate  to  the  new  age  with  its 
dry  atmospheric  conditions. 


THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  ROSICRUCIAN  FELLOWSHIP  181 

Another  great  world  transformation  is  coming,  we 
know  not  when ;  even  the  Christ  confessed  His  ignor- 
ance of  the  day  and  the  hour ;  but  He  warned  us  that 
the  day  would  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  and  He 
prophesied  that  the  conditions  in  the  world  would  then 
be  similar  to  those  prevailing  in  the  days  of  Noah; 
they  were  living  then  in  carefree  enjoyment  of  life 
when  suddenly  the  floodgates  of  heaven  were  opened,, 
and  death  and  destruction  spread  before  them. 

Christ  told  us  that  it  is  possible  to  take  the  kingdom 
of  God  by  storm  and  attain  to  the  consciousness  and 
conditions  there  prevailing.  But  Paul  informs  us  that 
flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God ;  he 
states  that  we  have  a  soul  body  (soma  psuchicon — 
1  Cor.  15:  44),  and  that  we  shall  meet  the  Lord  in 
the  air  when  He  comes.  This  soul  body  is  therefore  as 
necessary  to  entrance  into  the  new  age  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  as  a  body  equipped  with  lungs  was  to  the 
Atlanteans  who  desired  to  enter  into  the  age  in  which 
we  are  now  living.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  that  we 
make  our  calling  and  election  sure  by  preparing  the 
Golden  Wedding  Garment,  the  soul  body,  which  alone 
can  secure  our  admission  to  the  mystic  marriage. 

The  multitude  is  slowly  moving  in  the  right  direc- 
tion as  led  by  the  different  churches,  but  there  is  an 
ever  growing  class  that,  so  to  speak,  feels  the  wings  of 
the  soul  body  sprouting,  people  who  feel  an  inner 
urge  to  take  the  kingdom  of  God  by  storm.  Though 
unaware  of  any  definite  ideal,  they  sense  a  greater 


182  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

truth  and  a  more  certain  light  than  those  which  the 
Church  radiates ;  they  are  tired  of  parables  and  long 
to  learn  the  underlying  facts  at  the  very  feet  of  Christ. 

The  Rosicrucian  Fellowship  was  started  for  the 
purpose  of  reaching  this  class,  to  show  them  the  way 
to  illumination,  to  help  them  build  their  soul  body 
and  evolve  the  soul  powers  which  will  enable  them  to 
enter  consciously  into  the  kingdom  of  God  and  obtain 
first-hand  knowledge. 

This  is  a  large  undertaking,  none  greatei  and 
even  under  the  most  favorable  existing  conditions 
progress  must  be  slow,  but  if  the  aspirant  will  con- 
tinue with  patient  perseverance  in  well  doing,  it  can 
be  done. 

The  methods  are  definite,  scientific,  and  religious ; 
they  have  been  originated  by  the  Western  School  of 
the  Rosicrucian  Order,  and  are  therefore  specially 
suited  to  the  western  people.  Sometimes,  but  very 
rarety,  they  bring  results  in  a  short  time ;  generally  it 
requires  years  and  even  lives  before  the  aspirant  at- 
tains, but  the  following  system  will  in  the  end  bring 
all  to  their  hearts'  desire. 

The  Tabernacle  in  the  Wilderness  was  a  symbolic 
representation  of  the  way  to  God,  and,  as  Paul  says, 
held  a  shadow  of  better  things  to  come.  Everything 
in  it  had  its  spiritual  meaning.  The  table  of  shew- 
bread  gives  us  an  important  lesson  germane  to  our 
present  consideration.  Students  will  remember  that 
the  ancient  Israelites  were  commanded  to  bring  the 


THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  ROSICRUCIAN  FELLOWSHIP  183 

shewbread  to  the  tabernacle  at  stated  intervals.  The 
grain  from  which  this  was  made  was  given  them  by 
God  but  they  must  prepare  the  soil  in  which  it  was  to 
grow,  they  must  plant  and  cultivate,  they  must  weed 
and  water,  so  as  to  secure  the  greatest  possible  in- 
crease ;  they  must  harvest  and  thresh,  grind  and  bake, 
ere  they  had  the  loaves  which  they  brought  to  the 
tabernacle  as  bread  to  shew  for  their  toil.  Similarly, 
God  gives  to  all  the  grain  of  opportunity  to  serve,  but 
it  is  our  duty  to  cultivate  these  opportunities  and 
nurse  and  nourish  them  in  the  soil  of  loving  kindness 
so  that  they  may  bring  a  great  increase.  We  must 
always  bear  in  mind  the  words  of  Christ  that  He 
came  to  minister  and  to  serve.  Therefore  anyone 
aspiring  to  follow  in  His  steps  and  to  be  great  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  must  ever  be  on  the  lookout  for  op- 
portunities to  serve  his  fellows.  Each  day  must  be 
filled  as  full  as  possible  with  kind  and  considerate 
deeds,  for  they  are  the  warp  and  woof  of  which  the 
golden  wedding  garment  is  woven.  Without  these 
" works"  no  amount  of  prayer,  fasting,  or  other  re- 
ligious exercises  will  avail.  It  is  useless  to  repair  to 
the  temple  without  this  bread  to  shew  that  we  have 
really  worked  in  the  Master's  service. 

The  foregoing  is  also  the  teaching  of  the  exoteric 
churches;  but  the  following  is  the  exclusively  Rosi- 
crucian  scientific  teaching  and  method,  based  upoD 
the  deepest  knowledge  of  spiritual  facts  whereby  the 
aspirant  is  enabled  to  gain  the  maximum  soul  growth 


184  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

in  each  life,  so  that  his  spiritual  advancement  is 
accelerated  beyond  his  very  wildest  dreams.  There- 
fore this  is  the  most  important  spiritual  teaching  that 
has  been  given  to  man  in  modern  times,  and  no  one 
who  tries  honestly  to  follow  this  simple  method  can 
fail  to  be  enormously  benefited : 

Ether  is  the  medium  of  transmission  of  light,  that 
which  etche?  a  picture  on  the  photographic  film.  It 
permeates  the  air,  and  with  every  breath  we  draw 
from  birth  to  death  ether  enters  our  system  and  etches 
a  picture  of  our  surroundings  and  actions  on  a  little 
atom  in  the  heart.  Thus  each  carries  with  him  a  com- 
plete record  of  his  life,  which  is  assimilated  after 
death.  Expiation  of  the  evil  deeds  causes  pain  and 
anguish  in  purgatory.  These  are  thus  transmuted  to 
conscience  to  prevent  repetition  of  the  same  mistakes 
in  succeeding  lives :  the  good  deeds  are  transmuted  to 
love  and  benevolence.  Instead  of  waiting  for  this 
post-mortem  transmutation  of  the  shewbread  of  life, 
the  aspirant  who  desires  to  take  heaven  by  storm  may 
assimilate  the  fruits  of  each  day  after  retiring  and 
before  going  to  sleep  by  running  over  the  deeds  done. 
The  events  of  the  day  are  considered  in  reverse  order, 
so  that  that  which  happened  in  the  evening  is  taken 
first,  then  the  happenings  of  the  afternoon,  forenoon, 
and  morning.  This,  is  important  for  it  conforms  to 
the  way  the  life  panorama  acts  after  death,  taking  first 
the  events  just  prior  to  death,  last  the  events  of 


THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  ROSICRUCIAN  FELLOWSHIP  185 

infancy.  The  object  is  to  show  the  effects  and  then 
refer  them  to  their  antecedent  causes. 

In  this  retrospection  it  will  do  the  aspirant  no  good 
to  run  over  the  events  of  the  day  and  mildly  blame 
himself  where  he  did  wrong — he  is  usually  sure 
enough  to  praise  himself  sufficiently  for  his  good 
deeds.  But  he  must  remember  the  altar  of  burnt 
offerings  where  the  sacrifices  for  sin  were  offered. 
They  were  first  rubbed  with  salt  and  then  placed  on 
the  altar  to  be  consumed  by  a  divinely  enkindled  fire. 
Anyone  knows  what  an  intense  pain  is  caused  when 
salt  is  rubbed  into  a  wound,  and  this  rubbing  with 
salt  is  symbolic  of  the  pain  the  aspirant  must  feel  for 
his  wrongdoing.  Now  mark  that  it  was  not  permis- 
sible to  place  the  sacrifice  on  the  altar  until  it  had 
been  thus  rubbed  with  salt.  God  would  not  accept  it 
before,  but  when  it  had  been  salted  it  was  consumed 
by  a  fire  kindled  by  God  Himself. 

This  tells  us  that  unless  we  have  washed  our  evil 
deeds  of  the  day  in  the  salt  of  our  tears  and  heartfelt 
contrition,  God  will  not  accept  our  sacrifice  of  re- 
pentance ;  but  when  we  have  really  repented,  our  sins 
will  be  washed  away  and  our  recording  atom  will  be 
clean  as  the  driven  snow.  With  respect  to  our  good 
deeds  we  may  remember  that  there  were  two  little 
piles  of  frankincense  on  the  top  of  the  shewbread. 
These  were  offered  upon  the  altar  of  incense,  where 
the  smoke  ascended  as  a  sweet  savor  to  the  Lord,  so 
different  from  the  nauseating  stench  that  went  up 


186  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

from  the  altar  where  the  sin  offerings  were  burned. 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  God  took  no  delight  in  the  sacri- 
fice of  bulls  and  calves,  but  delighted  in  a  contrite 
heart  and  a  repentant  spirit? 

It  is  this  spiritual  aromatic  extract  of  our  good 
deeds  that  builds  our  soul  body.  By  the  ordinary 
natural  process  it  takes  about  one-third  as  many  years 
in  our  post-mortem  existence  as  we  lived  in  the  body, 
to  reap  what  we  have  sowed.  But  when  an  aspirant 
has  assimilated  the  fruits  of  life  by  faithful  retrospec- 
tion at  the  end  of  each  day,  he  is  free  as  soon  as  he 
leaves  the  body  and  may  use  the  years  spent  by  others 
in  purgatory  and  the  first  heaven  as  he  pleases.  Fur- 
thermore, as  he  needs  neither  food,  shelter,  nor  sleep, 
he  may  spend  twenty-four  hours  a  day  doing  good. 
Thus  he  has  practically  as  many  years  of  service  and 
soul  growth  after  death  as  the  number  of  his  earth 
life ;  and  being  trained  and  schooled  in  this  work  his 
attainments  are  probably  greater  than  could  be  made 
in  a  number  of  lives  lived  in  the  ordinary  way. 

To  aid  deserving  aspirants,  still  deeper  and  more 
definite  teachings  are  given  by  the  Elder  Brothers 
through  the  Rosicrucian  Fellowship.  Students  who 
feel  the  inner  urge  may  ask  for  information  concern- 
ing these  teachings. 


187 


Index 


Abel,  man  of  Lemuria,  23. 

Action,  desirability  of,  16. 

Action,  good,  required  for  soul  body,  183. 

A.  D.  M.,  red  earth,  78. 

Adam,  a  Polarian,  22. 

Airships  of  Atlantis,  71. 

Albumen  not  needed  by  spiritual,  24. 

Alcohol,  action,  83. 

Altar  of  sacrifice,  96. 

America,  the  melting  pot,  112. 

Angels,  humanity  of  Moon  Period  50. 

lived  in  etheric  world  50. 

wisely  guided  man  32. 
Anglo-Saxons,  pioneers  of  race,  75. 
Animals  ruled  by  group  spirits  108. 
Aquarian  Age,  science  to  rule  in  82. 

six  hundred  years  until  81. 

teacher  of  76. 

Arche-Tektons,  Initiates  are  103. 
Ark,  airship  of  Atlantis,  71. 
Aryan  Age,  invaders  of  80. 
Aryana,  national  segregation  of  70. 
Assimilation  of  life   experiences  184. 
Asteroids,  remnants  of  Moons  60. 
Astrology,  value  of  in  marriage  53. 
Atlantis,  destruction  of  180. 
Atlantean  epoch,  the  nadir  of  materiality  9. 
Atlanteans  aspire  to  light  95. 

divinely  guided  69. 
Atlantis,  airships  of  71. 

atmosphere  of  69. 

man  becomes  man  in  25. 

peaceful  conditions  of  86. 


188  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Atmosphere,  changes  of  180. 
Attainment,  method  of  171. 

Baptism,  soul's  urge  for  higher  life  55. 
Black  Brothers,  increase  evil  106. 
Black  Magic,  frequent  practice  of  101. 

golden,  wedding  garment  protects  against,  106. 

practices  of  103. 

Blood  hound,  follows  invisible  emanation  104. 
Born  of  water  and  spirit  80. 
Brain  gained  at  sacrifice  of  creative  force  32. 
Breathing  exercises,  danger  of  9. 

use  of  10. 
Brotherhood,  all  members  of  44. 

Cain,  a  Hyperborean  23. 

Candles,  tallow,  attract  elementals  106. 

Causation  177. 

Children,  training  of  127. 

Chosen  people  95. 

Christ,  annual  coming  of  171. 

bodily  presence  of  the  Father  98. 

forgiveness  of  57. 

Inhabits  central  sun  58. 

man  a  Christ-in-the-making  158. 

mission  of  47,  87. 

power  of  158,  159. 

preservation,  principle  of  168. 

sacrifice  of  98. 
Christ,  see  also  Earth  Spirit. 
Civilization,  evolution  of  111. 
Communication  with  dead  113. 
Communion,  points  to  age  to  come  55. 

worthy  celebration  of  31. 
Conscience  gained  in  purgatory  184. 
Consciousness  result    of    war  between   vitel    and  desire 

bodies  49. 

Conservation  of  strength  122. 
Contentment  lengthens  life  51. 
Contrition,  importance  of  185. 
Conversion  and  Initiation  12. 

inner  experience  13. 
Converts,  making  of  132. 
Courage  91.  ,     . 


INDEX  189 

Creation,  principle  of  Jehovah  168. 
Creative  hierarchies  guide  man  22. 
Crystalloids  aid  in  evolving  vital  body  88. 

Dead,  communication  with  113. 
Death,  care  of  body  after  134. 

conquest  of  56. 

price  of  consciousness  50. 
Dense  body,  care  of  after  death  134. 

crystallized  state  of  47. 

raising  vibrations  of  10. 

restoration  of  in  sleep  128. 

spiritualization  of  74. 

under  laws  of  nature  57. 
Desire  body,  control  of  128. 

destroys  dense  body  49. 

gained  in  Lemuria  23. 

reaction  of  man's  acts  25. 
Dietetics,  albumen  not  needed  by  spiritual  24. 

legumes  not  needed  by  advanced  24. 
Diplomacy  and  force  119. 
'Dissolution  the  Father's  power  168. 
Divine  hierarchies  work  upon  man  22. 
Divine  leaders  abolish  religious  errors  46. 
Divine  spirit  and  physical  body  132. 

Earth  conditions  cramp  humanity  99. 

crystallization  of  due  to  man  32. 
Earth  Spirit  body  and  blood  31. 
Earth  Spirit,  see  also  Christ. 
Earthly  goods,  use  of  117. 
Easter,  Christ's  liberation  160. 

vital,  force  of  161. 
Effort  brings  opportunities  15. 
Ego  chooses  work  of  life  64. 
Egotism,  protection  from  19. 

Elder  Brothers  hierophants  of  western  wisdom  teaching 
173. 

high  status  of  173. 

not  mercenary  20. 

transmute  evil  105. 
Elementals  inhaled  with  incense  106. 
Emancipation,  God's  purpose  162. 


190  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Environment  chosen  by  ego  64,  122. 

power  of  74. 
Epochs,  changes  of  77. 
Ether  etches  pictures  on  seed  atom  184. 

medium  of  transmission  of  light  184. 

new  element  71. 
Evolution  177. 
Evolution  of  man  35 

path  of  spiral  14. 

Exercises:  Breathing  practices  9,  10. 
Experience,  a  grindstone  63. 
Extreme  unction  56. 

Faculties,  evolution  of  177. 

Fall,  unchastity  62. 

Family,  duty  to  127. 

Father,  The,  dissolution  principle  of  168. 

highest  Initiate  of  Saturn  Period  58. 

inhabits  spiritual  sun  58. 
Finger  nails  used  in  Black  Magic  103. 
Flesh,  eating  of,  difficult  to  digest,  90. 

material  progress  result  of  23,  86,  92. 

necessitated  by  materialism  23. 

sins  of  90. 

Flood,  sun  in  Cancer  78. 
Food,  significance  of  22. 
Forgiveness  of  Christ  57. 
Free  Will  22. 

of  Initiate  in  choice  of  environment  64. 

in  Atlantis  25. 

Galilee,  melting  pot  74. 

Gill  clefts  replaced  by  lungs  24. 

Gills  of  early  Atlantis  70. 

Glass  of  water  in  Black  Magic  104. 

God,  immanence  of  161. 

Golden  wedding  garment,  see  Soul  Body. 

Good  Friday  153. 

Gospels  formulae  of  Initiation  64. 

Grace  and  forgiveness  of  sin  34. 

Grail,  see,  Holy  Grail. 

Group  Spirit  108. 

Hair  used  in  Black  Magic  103. 


INDEX  191 


Healing,  Rosicrucian  method  of  103. 
Help,  practical  133. 
Hierarchies,  service  of  135. 

still  active  166. 
Hindu  breathing  exercises  73. 
Holy  Grail,  many  orders  constitute  105. 

two  forces  of  105. 
Holy  Spirit,  see  Jehovah. 
Human  spirit  and  desire  body  132. 
Humanity,  salvation  of  160. 

slowly  progressing  14. 
Hyperborea,  generation  in  49. 
Hyperborean  epoch,  man  plantlike  in  22. 

vital  body  gained  in  22. 
Hypnotism,  danger  of  107. 

I  as  pronoun  83. 
Inactivity  causes  straggling  16. 
Incense,  Black  Forces  use  106. 
Inequalities,  harmonizing  of  178. 
Initiates,  arche-tektons  103. 

bodies  of,  immaculately  conceived  64. 

choose  own  life  work  64. 

purity  of  64, 

may  be  women  67. 
Initiation,  changes  life,  13. 

confers  authority  13. 

free  13. 

inner  experience  12. 

money  cannot  buy  il. 

requirements  for  20. 

spiritual  process  11. 

spiritualizes  vital  body  67. 

through  spiritual  exercises  11. 

tribulation  leads  to  63. 
Initiation  fee,  impossibility  of  20. 
Inner  vision  opened  136. 
Intellectual  conception  of  life  175. 
Intensity  of  feeling  19. 

Jehovah,  creation  principle  of  168. 
dwells  in  physical  sun  58. 
highest  Initiate  of  Moon  Period  58. 
race  spirit  of  the  Jews  110. 


192  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Jehovah   (cont.)       regent  of  various  moons  58. 

warder  of  creative  forces  56. 
Jesus  race  body  of  74. 
Judgment,  Sun  in  Libra  156. 
Justice  of  life  175. 

with  mercy  33. 

Knowledge,  necessity  for  131. 

Larynx  gained  at  sacrifice  of  creative  force  32. 

Law,  knowledge  of  131. 

Law  of  Consequence  given  to  Atlanteans  26. 

Laws  of  nature  and  destiny  25. 

Legumes  not  needed  by  advanced  24. 

Lemurian  epoch,  desire  body  gained  in  23. 

Life  Spirit  and  vital  body  132. 

Light,  Atlanteans  aspire  to  95. 

symbol  of  God  167. 
Living  church  within  124. 
Lords  of  Mercury,  stragglers  of  past  59. 
Lords  of  Venus,  stragglers  of  past  59. 
Lord's  Supper,  see  communion. 
Lost  souls  58. 
Love  endlessly  born  169. 

keynote  of  coming  age  80. 

of  souls  53. 

transcends  sex  51. 

Lucifer  spirits  cause  body's  crystallization  32 
Lungs  related  to  spirits'  freedom  24. 

Man  becomes  man  in  Atlantis  25. 

mineral-like  in  Polarian  Epoch  88. 
Marriage  necessitated  by  disintegration  and  death  49 

sacrament  of  55. 

transcends  sex  51. 
Materialism,  predominance  of  163. 
Matter,  limitation  of  causes  self-confidence  22. 
Materialization,  varieties  of  102  . 
Meat  non-permanent  as  food  82. 
Meat  eating,  see  Flesh  eating. 
Michael,  race  spirit  111. 
Milk  aid  in  evolving  desire  body  89. 

given  in  Lemuria  23. 
Mind,  effect  of  meat  upon  93. 

given  during  Atlantean  epoch  22. 


INDEX  193 

Mind  (cont.)     given  for  discrimination  122. 

link  between  spirit  and  matter  132. 
Minerals,  assimilation  impossible  82. 
Moderation  in  food  136. 
Mongols,  descendents  of  Atlanteans  75. 
Moons,  discipline  stragglers  59. 

physical  vehicles  of  Jehovah  172. 

tumors  of  universe  60. 
Moses  led  followers  through  water  26. 
Motive,  importance  of  101. 
Mysteries,  soul  body  teaches  136. 
Mystery  schools  furnish  higher  teaching  8. 

Nationalism  must  pass  112. 

Nations,  rise  and  fall  of  110. 

Negroes,  descendants  of  Lemurians  75. 

New  Galilee  135. 

New  heaven  and  new  earth,  see  Aquarian  Age. 

New  race  75. 

Niebelungen  ring  42. 

Nimrod,  Atlantean  king  22. 

Noah  27. 

Noise,  evil  effects  of  125. 

stirs  desire  bodies  126. 
Nucleus  in  magic  practices  103. 

Orthodoxy,  arguments  of  46. 
Panorama  etched  into  desire  body  133. 
Passion,  crystallizing  power  of  32. 
Periodic  flow  of  earth  62. 
Philosophy,  hidden  meaning  in  135. 
Physical  body,  see  Dense  body. 
Pioneers  the  active  workers  16. 

two  classes  of  17. 
Pisces,  creed  and  dogma  of  81. 
Planet,  body  of  Great  Spirit  156. 

evolution  of  41. 

orbit  of  156. 
Poise,  necessity  for  125. 
Polarian  had  only  dense  body  88. 
Polarian  epoch,  dense  body  in  22. 

mineral-like  state  of  man  in  22. 
Polygamy  66. 
Possession  cures  desire  93. 

13 


194  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Post  mortem  experience  15. 

Post  mortem  state  16. 

Preservation,  Christ  principle  168. 

Progress,  impossible  to  unworthy  150. 

Proselyting  unnecessary  132. 

Providence  of  God  120. 

Purity,  redemption  of  35. 

Race  spirits  cause  racial  characteristics  109. 

high  ideals  of  110. 
Racial  characteristics  109. 
Rainbow,  advent  of  27. 

emblem  of  diversity  70. 

entrance  to  new  age  180. 

gates  to  promised  land  69. 
Reconciliation  Desirability  of  119. 
Recording  angels  give  religions  7. 
Religion,  happiness  from  126. 
Religion  given  by  Recording  Angels  7. 

suited  to  nations  8. 

Religious  errors,  not  long  permitted  46. 
Responsibility  not  to  be  shirked  127. 
Resurrection,  Easter  Sun  symbolizes  163. 
Retrospection,  good  gained  by  184. 

importance  of  18. 
Rhine  Gold  42. 
Rosicrucian  messengers  11. 
Sacrament,  Hebrew  derivation  of  55. 

importance  of  38. 
Sacrifice,  evolution  result  of  97. 

soul  growth  from  165. 
Sanctuary,  inner  124. 
Saints,  17. 
Salt,  185. 
Science  becomes  religious  40. 

to  rule  Aquarian  Age  82. 
Seances,  danger  of  107. 
Seasons  symbolize  diversity  70. 
Self-Sacrifice,  advancement  from  38. 

of  Christ  100. 

Selfishness  bane  of  race  43. 
Separation  of  sexes  32. 
Service  builds  soul  body  135. 

essential  in  life  13o. 


INDEX  195 


Service  (cont.)     the  policy  that  pays  118. 

redemption  of  stragglers  59, 
Sexes,  separation  of  32. 
Silence,  great  help  in  soul  growth  126. 
Sin  must  be  expiated  57. 
Sixth  sense  178. 

Sleep,  work  during  gains  soul  growth  129. 
Solar  system  body  of  God  59. 
Son,  sec  Christ. 

Sorrow,  keynote  of  Buddhism  57. 
Soul  amalgamates  with  spirit  96. 
Soul  body  54. 

from  seed  73. 

light  of  teaches  man  136. 

of  new  age  181. 

methods  of  building  80. 

protects  against  Black  Magic  106. 

wedding  garment  of  new  age  80. 
Soul  growth  dissolves  crystallized  bodies  96. 

helps  in  126. 

method  of  17. 
Sound,  effect  of  124. 
Spinal  nerves,  animal  twenty-eight  pairs  of  61. 

man  thirty-one  pairs  of  61. 
Spirit  orbit  of  156. 
Spiritiial  forces,  ebb  and  flow  of  61. 
Spiritual  sight  result  of  war  112. 
Spiritual  world,  time  non-existent  169. 
Spring  and  Earth  Spirit  31. 
Stellar  ray  64. 

Strength,  conservation  of  122. 
Sugar  beneficial  effects  of  83. 

cure  of  alcoholism  by  84. 
Sun  ascends  at  Easter  165. 

in  Cancer,  the  flood  78. 

invisible  vehicle  of  God  172. 

visible  vehicle  of  Christ  172. 

Tact,  value  of  119. 
Talents  of  ego  15. 
Teacher  of  New  Age  76. 
Temple,  way  to  shown  136. 
Thought  breaks  down  tissue  23. 


196  GLEANINGS  OF  A  MYSTIC 

Time,  non-existent  in  spiritual  world  169. 

Tolerance  for  our  families  137. 

Tree  of  knowledge  32. 

Tribulation  prepares  for  Initiation  63. 

Trinity,  mystery  of  167. 

Unfoldment,  three  stages  of  55. 
Universal  solvent  168. 

Vegetarianism,  advantages  of  91. 

Vegetarian  needs  no  alcohol  91. 

Virgin  spirits  enmeshed  in  matter  as  egos  132. 

self-consciousness  attained  by  22. 
Vital  body  charges  body  with  energy  132. 

constructive  energy  of  49. 

evolved  by  Hyperborean  22,  88. 

medium  of  occult  growth  9. 

spiritualized  by  Initiation  67. 

stores  up  power  128. 

vehicle  of  love  51. 

War,  spiritual  aspects  of  123. 

spiritual  intensity  of  104. 

spiritual  sight  result  of  112. 
Water,  Noah  and  Moses  led  followers  through  26. 

used  in  Black  Magic  104. 
Wedding  garment,  see  Soul  Body. 
Western  Initiates  more  advanced  8. 
Western  Mystery  Teaching  Christian  47. 
White  Magic,  unselfish  102. 
Wine,  given  in  Atlantis  26. 

self-assertion  from  drinking  86. 

stimulates  spirit  of  man  27. 
Word,  cosmic  meaning  of  155. 
Workers,  the  pioneers  16. 
World,  God's  training  school  ISO. 
World  change  to  come  181. 
Worry  evil  of  116. 

You  as  pronoun  83. 


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Section  I. — Life  on  Earth.  Social  Conditions,  Marriage, 
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Section  II. — .Life  After  Death.  Cremation.  Purgatory, 
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Section  VI. — Clairvoyance.  Dangers  of  Psychism,  True 
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(Eattplirism 

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An  Esoteric  Exposition  of  the  Cosmic  Facts  underly- 
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No.     1.  The  Riddle  of  Life  and  Death. 

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No.     4.  Sleep,    Dreams,    Trance,    Hypnotism,    Mediumship 

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No.     5.  Death  and  Life  in  Purgatory. 

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BY  PRENTISS  TUCKER 

This  is  a    fascinating  story   of  a   young 

experiences  during  the  Great  War,  both  upon  the  seen 

and  the  unseen  planes.    The  author  possesses  great 

aptitude  for  portraying  conditions    upon  the   super- 

physical  planes  so  that   the  layman   can  form  a  con- 

crete conception  regarding  them. 

Published  by  The  Rosicrucian  Fellowship 

168  Pages  Cloth  Bound  $1.50  postfree. 


of 


MAX  AND  AUGUSTA  HEINDEL 

708  pp.  Cloth.  $3.50,  Postpaid 

This  book  gives  a  complete  system  of  reading  the 
horoscope  for  character  and  the  various  fortunes  of  life. 
The  progressed  horoscope,  and  the  art  of  prediction  are 
fully  dealt  with.  An  exposition  of  Medical  Astrology  and 
a  system  of  diagnosing  disease  from  the  horoscope,  used 
for  many  years  by  the  authors  in  their  extensive  and  suc- 
cessful practice,  are  included,  and  also  a  number  of  articles 
on  the  philosophy  of  Astrology.  The  subject  of  Medical 
Astrology  is  illustrated  by  36  example  horoscopes. 

A  new  index  has  been  added  to  both  Natal  and  Medical 
Astrology.  This  will  be  invaluable  to  the  student  in 
quickly  locating  any  desired  information  in  either  depart- 
ment. 

This  book  is  the  classic  of  modern  Astrology.  It  is  set 
in  a  most  attractive  style,  printed  on  fine  paper,  with 
durable  binding,  the  cover  stamped  in  colors  like  other 
Rosicrucian  textbooks. 


jiunpltfteh 


BY  MAX  HEINDEL 
Fourth  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged 

WITH  MAX  HEINDEL'S  PORTRAIT 

198  pp.  Bound  in  Cloth.  $1.50  Postpaid. 

A  complete  textbook  on  the  art  of  erecting  a  horoscope, 
making  the  process  simple  and  easy  for  beginners.  It  also 
includes  a 

Philosophic  Encyclopedia 
Tables  of  Planetary  Hours 

The  Philosophic  Encyclopedia  fills  a  long  felt  want  of 
both  beginners  and  advanced  students  for  information  con- 
cerning the  underlying  reasons  for  astrological  dicta.  It 
is  a  mine  of  knowledge  arranged  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
be  instantly  accessible. 


mitfefr  jicbnttftt 


I860  TO  DATE.    PRICE,  25c  EACH  YEAR 

The  increasing  difficulty  experienced  by  Astrolo- 
gers in  obtaining  Ephemerides  has  induced  us  to 
enter  the  field  and  produce 

A  Better  Ephemeris 

AT  HALF  THE  PRICE  USUALLY  CHARGED  BY  OTHERS 
The  type  is  as  large  as  used  in  this  book,  the  print 
is  clear  and  beautiful.    It  will  save  eye  strain. 

0  -  °0°  -  0 
SIMPLIFIED 

Srienttftc  tEahtes  0! 

Latitudes  25  to  60  Degrees,  Inclusive 


Volume  1.  Volume  2.  Volume  3. 

25-36  degrees          37-48  degrees          49-60  degrees 

WITH  LONGITUDES  and  LATITUDES 

of  about 

FIFTEEN  HUNDRED  CITIES  OF  THE  WORLD 
50c   each   volume   postpaid. 


BY  AUGUSTA  Foss  HEINDEL 


This  is  a  new  lecture  in  our  Rosicrucian  Chris- 
tianity Series.  It  is  a  very  interesting  description  of 
the  soul  who  is  earthbound  after  death,  the  conditions 
which  surround  him  on  the  superphysical  planes,  his 
activities  there,  and  the  causes  which  hold  him  in  that 
state.  The  dangers  of  the  ouija  board,  as  affording  a 
field  of  operation  for  earthbound  spirits,  are  also 
described. 

13  Pages.  Paper  Bound.  Price  lOc. 


0f  Christmas 

BY  MAX  HEINDEL 


Five  dissertations  in  one  volume,  upon  this  most 
interesting  Subject  of  CHRISTMAS  from  the  Mys- 
tical Viewpoint,  showing  the  occult  significance  of 
this  great  event. 

Atractively  Bound  in  Heavy  Paper.        $1.00  postfree. 


(Eaurscs 

CHRISTIAN  MYSTICISM  AND  ASTROLOGY 

Christian  Mysticism :  A  correspondence  course  of 
twelve  lessons  upon  the  Rosicrucian  Philosophy,  using 
the  Cosmo-Conception  by  Max  Heindel,  as  a  textbook. 
This  philosophy  gives  a  logical  analysis  of  the  origin, 
evolution,  and  future  development  of  the  world  and 
man,  showing  both  the  spiritual  and  scientific  aspects. 
It  is  entirely  Christian,  aiming  to  make  religion  a 
living  factor  in  the  world  and  to  lead  to  Christ  those 
who  cannot  reach  Him  by  faith  alone. 

This  course  is  open  to  all  who  are  interested. 

Astrology :  We  want  to  help  you  to  help  others, 
and  for  that  reason  we  have  instituted  a  correspond- 
ence course  in  Astrology.  Astrology  is  to  us  a  phase 
of  religion,  a  Divine  Science.  We  teach  it  to  others  on 
condition  that  they  will  not  prostitute  it  for  gain. 

Anyone  who  is  not  engaged  in  fortune  telling  or 
similar  methods  of  commercializing  spiritual  knowl- 
edge may  be  admitted  to  this  course. 

Address : — 

SECRETARY- 

The  Rosicrucian  Fellowship,    Oceanside,    California. 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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520:188 


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